﻿INNOCENTI  DIGEST 




N o . 6   -   J u n e   2 0 0 0 













DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS





n OVERVIEW

n SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

n MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM

n CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

n CONSEQUENCES

n CALCULATING THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC COSTS OF VIOLENCE
n STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
n COMBATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: OBLIGATIONS OF THE STATE
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS
t


CONTENTS
EDITORIAL                                       1  

OVERVIEW                                       2  
SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM                   3  

MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM          4  
Physical abuse                                4  
Sexual abuse and rape
in intimate relationships                   4  
Psychological and emotional abuse    4  
Femicide                                        6  
Sexual abuse of children
and adolescents                              6  
Forced prostitution                          6  
Sex-selective abortions, female infanticide and differential access
to food and medical care                 6  
Traditional and cultural practices affecting the health and lives
of women                                       6  

CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE       7  

CONSEQUENCES                                8  
Denial of fundamental rights            8  
Human development goals
undermined                                    9  
Health consequences                        9  
Impact on children                          9  

CALCULATING THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
COSTS OF VIOLENCE                       12  

STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS:
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH            13  
The family                                    14  
Local community                           15  
Civil society                                  15  
The state machinery                      17  
International organizations            19  

LINKS                                            20  

REFERENCES                                   25  

Also includes
COMBATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: OBLIGATIONS OF THE STATE
by Radhika Coomaraswamy                      10  
EDITORIAL

Women and children are often in great danger in the place where they should 
be safest:
within their families. For many, ‘home’ is where they face a regime of 
terror and violence
at the hands of somebody close to them – somebody they should be able to 
trust. Those victimized suffer physically and psychologically. They are 
unable to make their own decisions, voice their own opinions or protect 
themselves and their children for fear of further repercussions. Their 
human rights are denied and their lives are stolen from them
by the ever-present threat of violence.
This Innocenti Digest looks specifically at domestic violence. The term 
‘domestic’ includes violence by an intimate partner and by other family 
members, wherever this violence takes place and in whatever form. The 
Digest builds on the research carried out
by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre for an earlier Digest on Children 
and Violence.
In recent years, there has been a greater understanding of the problem of 
domestic violence, its causes and consequences, and an international 
consensus has developed on the need to deal with the issue. The Convention 
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted by 
the United Nations General Assembly some
20 years ago, the decade-old Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the 
Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Women 
in Beijing in 1995,
all  reflect  this  consensus.  But  progress  has  been  slow  because  
attitudes  are  deeply entrenched and, to some extent, because effective 
strategies to address domestic vio- lence are still being defined. As a 
result, women worldwide continue to suffer, with esti- mates varying from 
20 to 50 per cent from country to country.
This appalling toll will not be eased until families, governments, 
institutions and civil society organizations address the issue directly. 
Women and children have a right to State protection even within the 
confines of the family home. Violence against women
is perpetrated when legislation, law enforcement and judicial systems 
condone or do not recognize domestic violence as a crime. One of the major 
challenges is to end impunity for perpetrators. So far, only 44 countries 
(approximately) have adopted specific legisla- tion to address domestic 
violence.
As this Digest demonstrates, domestic violence is a health, legal, 
economic, educa- tional, developmental and, above all, a human rights 
issue. Much has been done to cre- ate awareness and demonstrate that change 
is not only necessary, it is also possible. Now that strategies for dealing 
with it are becoming clearer, there is no excuse for inaction.

Mehr Khan
Director, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre



Innocenti Digest no. 6
Main issues

t
OVERVIEW

“Violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power 
relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and 
discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full 
advancement of women...”
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against 
Women, General Assembly Resolution, December 1993.

Violence against women and girls contin-
ues to be a global epidemic that kills, tor- tures, and maims – physically, 
psycholog- ically, sexually and economically. It is one of the most 
pervasive of human rights vio- lations, denying women and girls equality, 
security,  dignity,  self-worth,  and  their right to enjoy fundamental 
freedoms. Violence against women is present in every country, cutting 
across boundaries of culture, class, education, income, eth- nicity  and  
age.  Even  though  most  soci- eties  proscribe  violence  against  women, 
the  reality  is  that  violations  against women’s  human  rights  are  
often  sanc- tioned under the garb of cultural practices and norms, or 
through misinterpretation of  religious  tenets.  Moreover,  when  the 
violation takes place within the home, as is very often the case, the abuse 
is effec- tively condoned by the tacit silence and the passivity displayed 
by the state and the law-enforcing machinery.
The global dimensions of this violence are alarming, as highlighted by 
studies on its incidence and prevalence. No society can claim to be free of 
such violence, the only variation is in the patterns and trends that   
exist   in   countries   and   regions. Specific groups of women are more 
vul- nerable,   including   minority   groups, indigenous and migrant 
women, refugee women and those in situations of armed conflict, women in 
institutions and deten- tion,   women  with  disabilities,   female
Definitions and Key Concepts

There is no universally accepted definition of violence against women. Some 
human rights activists prefer a broad-based definition that includes 
"structural violence" such as poverty, and unequal access to health and 
education. Others have argued for a more limited definition in order not to 
lose the actual descriptive power of the term.2  In any case, the
need to develop specific operational definitions has been acknowledged so 
that research and monitoring can become more specific and have greater 
cross-cultural applicability.
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 
(1993) defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence 
that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or 
psychological harm or suffering to women, including
threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether 
occurring in public
or in private life."3
This definition refers to the gender-based roots of violence, recognizing 
that "violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by 
which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men." It 
broadens the definition of violence by including both the physical and 
psychological harm done towards women, and it includes acts in both private 
and public life. The Declaration defines violence against women as 
encompassing, but not limited to, three areas: violence occurring in the 
family, within the general community, and violence perpetrated or condoned 
by the State.
Domestic violence, as defined for this Digest, includes violence 
perpetrated by intimate partners and other family members, and manifested 
through:
Physical abuse such as slapping, beating, arm twisting, stabbing, 
strangling, burning, choking, kicking, threats with an object or weapon, 
and murder. It also includes traditional practices harmful to women such as 
female genital mutilation and wife inheritance (the practice of passing a 
widow, and her property, to her dead husband’s brother).
Sexual abuse such as coerced sex through threats, intimidation or physical 
force, forcing unwanted sexual acts or forcing sex with others.
Psychological abuse which includes behaviour that is intended to intimidate 
and persecute, and takes the form of threats of abandonment or abuse, 
confinement to the home, surveillance, threats to take away custody of the 
children, destruction of objects, isolation, verbal aggression and constant 
humiliation.
Economic abuse includes acts such as the denial of funds, refusal to 
contribute financially, denial of food and basic needs, and controlling 
access to health care, employment, etc.
Acts of omission are also included in this Digest as a form of violence 
against women and girls.4  Gender bias that discriminates in terms of 
nutrition, education and access to
health care amounts to a violation of women's rights. It should be noted 
that although the categories above are listed separately, they are not 
mutually exclusive. Indeed, they often
go hand in hand.
children, and elderly women.
This  Digest  focuses  specifically  on domestic  violence  –  the  most  
prevalent yet relatively hidden and ignored form of violence against women 
and girls. While reliable  statistics  are  hard  to  come  by, studies  
estimate  that,  from  country  to country, between 20 and 50 per cent of 
women  have  experienced  physical  vio- lence at the hands of an intimate 
partner or family member.1
For  the  purpose  of  this  Digest,  the term  “domestic  violence”  
includes  vio-
lence against women and girls by an inti-
2       mate partner, including a cohabiting part-
ner,   and   by   other   family   members, whether  this  violence  occurs 
 within  or beyond the confines of the home. While recognizing that other 
forms of violence are  equally  worthy  of  attention,  this Digest does 
not cover the violence inflict- ed  on  women  by  strangers  outside  the 
home – in public places such as streets, workplaces or in custody, or in 
situations of civil conflict or war. It does not look at the  issue  of  
violence  against  domestic workers, as this is perpetrated by individ- 
uals who are not related. In other words, the  term  “domestic”  here  
refers  to  the types of relationships involved rather than
the place where the violent act occurs.
The Digest attempts to set out the mag- nitude  and  universality  of  
domestic  vio- lence  against  women  and  girls,  and  its impact on the 
rights of women and chil- dren. It emphasizes the need for coordinat- ed   
and   integrated   policy   responses; enhancing partnerships between 
stakehold- ers; setting up mechanisms for monitoring and  evaluating  
programmes  and  policies; implementing  existing  legislation;  and 
ensuring greater transparency and account- ability from governments in 
order to elimi- nate violence against women and girls. Women’s groups have 
long pushed for
Main issues



such responses, and have placed women’s
rights firmly on the agenda of internation- al  human  rights  through  
their  advocacy. The  1990s,  in  particular,  witnessed  con- centrated 
efforts on the part of the world community to legitimize and mainstream the 
 issue.  The  World  Conference  on Human Rights in Vienna (1993) accepted 
that the rights of women and girls are “an inalienable, integral and 
indivisible part of universal  human  rights.”  The  United Nations General 
Assembly, in December
1993,  adopted  the  Declaration  on  the Elimination of Violence against 
Women. It is  the  first  international  human  rights instrument  to  deal 
 exclusively  with  vio- lence  against  women,  a  groundbreaking document 
that became the basis for many other parallel processes.
In  1994,  the  Commission  on  Human Rights  appointed  the  first  UN  
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, entrusting her with the task 
of analyzing and  documenting  the  phenomenon,  and holding governments 
accountable for vio-
t
lations against women. The Fourth World
Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) included elimination of all forms of 
vio- lence against women as one of its twelve strategic  objectives,  and  
listed  concrete actions to be taken by governments, the United  Nations,  
international  and  non- governmental organizations.
While  gender-based  violence  is  not specifically   mentioned   in   the  
 1979
Convention  on  the  Elimination  of  All Forms of Discrimination against 
Women (CEDAW), in 1992 the Committee over- seeing CEDAW implementation 
adopted General   Recommendation   19,   which states that it is a form of 
discrimination that  inhibits  a  woman’s  ability  to  enjoy rights and 
freedoms on a basis of equality with men. It asks that governments take 
this  into  consideration  when  reviewing their laws and policies.
Under  the  new  Optional  Protocol  to CEDAW,  adopted  by  the  UN  
General Assembly  in  October  1999,  ratifying States  recognize  the  
authority  of  the
Committee to receive and consider com-
plaints from individuals or groups within that  State’s  jurisdiction.  On  
the  basis  of such complaints, the Committee can then conduct  
confidential  investigations  and issue urgent requests for a government to 
take action to protect victims from harm, bringing  the  Convention  into  
line  with other  human  rights  instruments  such  as the Convention 
against Torture.
This  growing  momentum  has  com- pelled a better understanding of the 
caus- es  and  consequences  of  violence  against women,  and  positive  
steps  have  been taken in some countries, including reform- ing and 
changing laws that deal with this issue. Some regions have developed their 
own  conventions  on  violence  against women, examples of which are the 
Inter- American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment  and  Eradication  
of  Violence against    Women,    and    the    African Convention   on   
Human   and   People’s Rights,  including  its  Additional  Protocol on 
Women’s Rights.
SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

The family is often equated with sanctuary
– a place where individuals seek love, safe- ty, security, and shelter. But 
the evidence shows that it is also a place that imperils lives, and breeds 
some of the most drastic forms  of  violence  perpetrated  against women 
and girls.
Violence in the domestic sphere is usual-
lation, early marriage, and forced prostitu-
tion or bonded labour.
Some go on to suffer throughout their adult lives – battered, raped and 
even mur- dered at the hands of intimate partners. Other  crimes  of  
violence  against  women
include forced pregnancy, abortion or ster-
ilization, and harmful traditional practices such  as  dowry-related  
violence,  sati  (the burning of a widow on the funeral pyre of her 
husband), and killings in the name of honour. And in later life, widows and 
elder-
ly perpetrated by males who are, or who have been, in positions of trust 
and intima- cy  and  power  –  husbands,  boyfriends, fathers, 
fathers-in-law, stepfathers, brothers, uncles,  sons,  or  other  
relatives.  Domestic violence is in most cases violence perpetrat- ed by 
men against women. Women can also be violent, but their actions account for 
a small percentage of domestic violence. Violence against women is often a 
cycle of abuse that manifests itself in many forms throughout their lives 
(see Table 1). Even at the very beginning of her life, a girl may be the 
target of sex-selective abortion or female infanticide in cultures where 
son- preference is prevalent. During childhood, violence against girls may 
include enforced malnutrition, lack of access to medical care and 
education, incest, female genital muti-
Table 1 - Examples of Violence against Women
Throughout the Life Cycle

Phase                  Type of violence
Pre-birth              Sex-selective abortion; effects of battering during 
pregnancy on birth
                          outcomes.                                         
                                            
Infancy                Female infanticide; physical, sexual and 
psychological abuse.               Girlhood              Child marriage; 
female genital mutilation; physical, sexual and
psychological abuse; incest; child prostitution and pornography.
Adolescence and   Dating and courtship violence (e.g. acid throwing and 
date rape) Adulthood           economically coerced sex (e.g. school girls 
having sex with “sugar
daddies” in return for school fees); incest; sexual abuse in the workplace; 
rape; sexual harassment; forced prostitution and pornography; trafficking 
in women; partner violence; marital rape; dowry abuse and murders; partner 
homicide; psychological abuse;
abuse of women with disabilities; forced pregnancy.
Elderly                 Forced “suicide” or homicide of widows for economic 
reasons; sexual,
physical and psychological abuse.

(Source: “Violence Against Women”, WHO., FRH/WHD/97.8)           3
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ly women may also experience abuse.
While  the  impact  of  physical  abuse may be more ‘visible’ than 
psychological scarring, repeated humiliation and insults, forced  
isolation,  limitations  on  social mobility, constant threats of violence 
and injury, and denial of economic resources are more subtle and insidious 
forms of vio- lence. The intangible nature of psycholog-
t
ical abuse makes it harder to define and
report, leaving the woman in a situation where she is often made to feel 
mentally destabilized and powerless.
Jurists  and  human  rights  experts  and activists have argued that the 
physical, sex- ual  and  psychological  abuse,  sometimes with fatal 
outcomes, inflicted on women is comparable to torture in both its nature 
and
severity. It can be perpetrated intentionally,
and committed for the specific purposes of punishment,  intimidation,  and  
control  of the woman’s identity and behaviour. It takes place  in  
situations  where  a  woman  may seem free to leave, but is held prisoner 
by fear of further violence against herself and her children, or by lack of 
resources, fami- ly, legal or community support.5
MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM

The extent, validity and reliability of the
data available are critical in determining the magnitude of the problem and 
in iden- tifying  priority  areas  for  intervention. Prevalence studies 
with samples of repre- sentative populations are relatively new in 
developing  countries.  Such  studies  were initially conducted in 
industrialized coun- tries  –  the  United  States,  Canada,  and Europe. 
For example, one very influential survey conducted in Canada in 1993 under 
the auspices of the Canadian government was   developed   in   consultation 
  with women’s  organizations  and  ensured  ade- quate support and 
services for women par- ticipating in the survey.
When designing research on violence against  women,  it  is  important  
that  the research itself does not put women at risk. The World Health 
Organization (WHO) has developed specific ethical and safety 
recommendations that take into account, among other issues, the safety of 
respon- dents and the research team, protecting confidentiality  to  ensure 
 both  women’s safety  and  data  quality,  and  specialized training of 
interviewers.6
Most of the data available on violence against women are believed to be not 
only conservative, but unreliable. Studies vary in the sample size of women 
chosen, and the  ways  in  which  questions  have  been posed. It is 
difficult to compare these stud- ies because of inconsistency in the 
defini- tion of domestic violence and in the para- meters used, which can 
range from physi- cal  abuse  alone,  to  physical,  sexual  and 
psychological abuse.
Debate regarding the magnitude of the problem is also clouded by the fact 
that domestic violence is a crime that is under- recorded   and   
under-reported.   When
4      women  file  a  report  or  seek  treatment,
they may have to contend with police and
health care officials who have not been trained to respond adequately or to 
keep consistent  records.  On  the  other  hand, shame, fear of reprisal, 
lack of information about legal rights, lack of confidence in, or fear of, 
the legal system, and the legal costs involved make women reluctant to 
report incidents of violence.


Physical abuse
A growing body of research studies con- firms the prevalence of physical 
violence in all parts of the globe, including the esti- mates of 20 to 50 
per cent of women from country to country who have experienced domestic 
violence7. Statistics are grim no matter where in the world one looks. Data 
from industrialized and developing coun- tries as well as from transitional 
countries (see Table 2) provide an overview of the global  problem.  The  
data  in  this  table focus only on physical assault. There are few 
comparable statistics on psychological violence,  sexual  abuse,  and  
murder  of women at the hands of intimate partners and  other  family  
members.  As  already mentioned,  physical  violence  is  usually 
accompanied by psychological abuse, and in many cases by sexual assault.


Sexual abuse and rape
in intimate relationships
Sexual abuse and rape by an intimate part- ner is not considered a crime in 
most coun- tries, and women in many societies do not consider forced sex as 
rape if they are mar- ried to, or cohabiting with, the perpetrator. The  
assumption  is  that  once  a  woman enters into a contract of marriage, 
the hus- band  has  the  right  to  unlimited  sexual
access to his wife. Surveys in many coun-
tries reveal that approximately 10 to 15 per cent of women report being 
forced to have sex with their intimate partner.8
Some countries have begun to legislate against   marital   rape.   These   
include Australia,   Austria,   Barbados,   Canada, Cyprus,    Denmark,    
the    Dominican Republic,    Ecuador,    Finland,    France, Germany, 
Ireland, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, 
Russia,   South   Africa,   Spain,   Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, the United 
Kingdom and   the   United   States   of   America. Although provision of 
such laws represents considerable progress, it is often difficult for a 
woman to press charges because of the evidential rules concerning the 
crime.


Psychological
and emotional abuse
Because psychological violence is harder to  capture  in  quantitative  
studies,  a  full picture of the deeper and more insidious levels  of  
violence  defies  quantification. Victim-survivors report that ongoing psy- 
chological  violence  –  emotional  torture and  living  under  terror  –  
is  often  more unbearable  than  the  physical  brutality, with mental 
stress leading to a high inci- dence of suicide and suicide attempts. A 
close  correlation  between  domestic  vio- lence  and  suicide  has  been  
established based on studies in the United States, Fiji, Papua    New    
Guinea,    Peru,    India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Suicide is 12 times as 
likely to have been attempted by
a woman who has been abused than by one who has not.9  In the United 
States, as many  as  35  to  40  per  cent  of  battered women attempt 
suicide.10  In Sri Lanka, the number  of  suicides  by  girls  and  women
Main issues





Industrialized Countries
Canada
Table 2 - Domestic Violence against Women
l  29% of women (a nationally representative sample of 12,300 women) 
reported being physically assaulted by a current or former partner since 
the age of 16.
Japan
l  59% of 796 women surveyed in 1993 reported being physically abused by 
their partner.
New Zealand
l  20% of 314 women surveyed reported being hit or physically abused by a 
male partner.
Switzerland
l  20% of 1,500 women reported being physically assaulted according to a 
1997 survey.
United Kingdom
l  25% of women (a random sample of women from one district) had been 
punched or slapped by a partner or ex-partner in their lifetime.
United States
l  28% of women (a nationally representative sample of women) reported at 
least one episode of physical violence from their partner.

Asia and the Pacific
Cambodia
l  16% of women (a nationally representative sample of women) reported 
being physically abused by a spouse; 8% report being injured.
India
l  Up to 45% of married men acknowledged physically abusing their wives, 
according to a 1996 survey of 6,902 men in the state of
Uttar Pradesh.
Korea
l  38% of wives reported being physically abused by their spouse, based on 
a survey of a random sample of women.
Thailand
l  20% of husbands (a representative sample of 619 husbands) acknowledged 
physically abusing their wives at least once in their marriage.

Middle East
Egypt
l  35% of women (a nationally representative sample of women) reported 
being beaten by their husband at some point in their marriage.
Israel
l  32% of women reported at least one episode of physical abuse by their 
partner and 30% report sexual coercion by their husbands in
the previous year, according to a 1997 survey of 1,826 Arab women.

Africa
Kenya
l  42% of 612 women surveyed in one district reported having been beaten by 
a partner; of those 58% reported that they were beaten often or sometimes.
Uganda
l  41% of women reported being beaten or physically harmed by a partner; 
41% of men reported beating their partner (representative sample of women 
and their partners in two districts).
Zimbabwe
l  32% of 966 women in one province reported physical abuse by a family or 
household member since the age of 16, according to a
1996 survey.

Latin America and the Caribbean
Chile
l  26% of women (representative sample of women from Santiago) reported at 
least one episode of violence by a partner, 11%
reported at least one episode of severe violence and 15% of women reported 
at least one episode of less severe violence.
Colombia
l  19% of 6,097 women surveyed have been physically assaulted by their 
partner in their lifetime.
Mexico
l  30% of 650 women surveyed in Guadalajara reported at least one episode 
of physical violence by a partner; 13% reported physical violence within 
the previous year, according to a 1997 report.
Nicaragua
l  52% of women (representative sample of women in León) reported being 
physically abused by a partner at least once; 27% reported physical abuse 
in the previous year, according to a 1996 report.

Central and Eastern Europe/CIS/Baltic States
Estonia
l  29% of women aged 18-24 fear domestic violence, and the share rises with 
age, affecting 52% of women 65 or older, according to
a 1994 survey of 2,315 women.
Poland
l  60% of divorced women surveyed in 1993 by the Centre for the Examination 
of Public Opinion reported having been hit at least once by their 
ex-husbands; an additional 25% reported repeated violence.
Russia (St. Petersburg)
l  25% of girls (and 11% of boys) reported unwanted sexual contact, 
according to a survey of 174 boys and 172 girls in grade 10 (aged 14-17).
Tajikistan
l  23% of 550 women aged 18-40 reported physical abuse, according to a 
survey.

(Adapted from “Violence Against Women,” WHO, FRH/WHD/97.8, “Women in 
Transition,” Regional Monitoring Report, UNICEF 1999, and a study by 
Domestic Violence Research Centre, Japan.)             5
Main issues



15-24 years old is 55 times greater than
the number of deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth.11


Femicide
Femicide – murder of women by their bat- terers  –  is  another  phenomenon 
 that should be regarded as a separate category when recording domestic 
violence. Studies carried   out   in   Australia,   Bangladesh, Canada, 
Kenya, Thailand and the United States  of  America  have  documented  the 
incidence of femicide within the domestic sphere.12    In  Southern  
Africa,  women’s groups  have  begun  to  document  the increasing 
incidence of femicide, and data on this issue are available from Botswana, 
South  Africa,  Swaziland,  Zambia,  and Zimbabwe.13  A  comparative  
analysis  of spousal  homicide,  based  on  1991  data, concluded  that  
Russian  women  are  2.5 times more likely to be murdered by their partners 
than American women. However, American women are already twice as like- ly  
to  be  killed  by  their  partners  than women in Western European 
countries.14


Sexual abuse of children and adolescents
Considering  the  taboo  in  most  countries that surrounds incest or the 
sexual abuse of children and adolescents within the family, this is one of 
the most invisible forms of violence. Because the crime is perpetrated most 
often by a father, stepfather, grandfa- ther, brother, uncle, or another 
male rela- tive in a position of trust, the rights of the child are usually 
sacrificed in order to pro- tect the name of the family and that of the 
adult  perpetrator.  However,  studies  have shown  that  from  40  to  60  
per  cent  of known sexual assaults within the family are committed against 
girls aged 15 years and younger, regardless of region or culture.15 A 
recent  study  in  the  Netherlands  showed that 45 per cent of the victims 
of sexual vio- lence within the domestic sphere are under
Destitute families, unable to support their
children, often hire out or sell their chil- dren, who may then be forced 
into prosti- tution. Very often the young girl is sent as
a domestic worker, in which case she may be  physically  and  sexually  
exploited  by her  employers.  For  example,  in  West Africa – from 
Senegal to Nigeria – tens of thousands of children of destitute families 
are  reportedly  sent  to  the  Middle  East each  year,  many  of  them  
ending  up  as prostitutes.17  In South Africa, child prosti- tution is on 
the rise and has become an increasingly organized activity. In certain hill 
 districts  of  Nepal,  prostitution  has become  an  almost  ‘traditional’ 
 source  of income. Women and girls are tricked or forced  by  their  
husbands  and  relatives into being trafficked to India for prostitu- tion. 
In the poor rural areas of Thailand, where poverty has given rise to the 
phe- nomenon of debt bondage, it is believed that it is the daughter’s duty 
to sacrifice herself for the well-being of her family. Traffickers  buy  
the  “labour”  of  young women and girls in exchange for money. The high 
incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country has been attributed to this traf- 
ficking  in  young  girls.18    In  Northern Ghana and parts of Togo, girls 
are “donat- ed”  to  priests,  and  are  forced  to  live  as “wives” and 
submit sexually to the shrine priests  in  return  for  protection  for  
the family. A similar practice exists in south- ern India where young women 
and girls (devadasis) are “donated” to serve a temple; and very often end 
up being prostituted.


Sex-selective abortions, female infanticide
and differential access
to food and medical care
In societies where a higher value is placed on  sons,  discrimination  
towards  female children can take extreme forms such as sex-selective 
abortions and female infanti- cide.  In  India,  a  recent  survey  
reported
10,000 cases of female infanticide annual-
ly. The figure does not take into account the  number  of  abortions  
performed  to prevent the birth of a child.19  An official survey  in  
China  revealed  that,  with  its one-child policy, 12 per cent of all 
female embryos were aborted or otherwise unac- counted for.20  And in many 
countries the discrimination that leads to the neglect of girl children is 
the greatest cause of sick- ness and death among girls between the ages of 
two and five years.21  Girls in many developing countries receive less 
nourish- ment than boys, and they are more likely to suffer mental or 
physical disability or even die, as a result of poor nutrition. Less access 
to health care also exacerbates the much higher mortality rate among girls. 
Sex-selective abortion, female infanti- cide, and systematic differential 
access to food  and  medical  care  have  led  to  the phenomenon known as 
the “missing mil- lions” of women and girls. An estimated
60  million  women  are  simply  missing from  the  population  statistics. 
 In  other words there are 60 million fewer women alive in the world than 
should be expect- ed on the basis of general demographic trends. The 
phenomenon is observed pri- marily  in  South  Asia,  North  Africa,  the 
Middle East and China.22


Traditional and cultural practices affecting
the health and lives of women
Around the world, women and girls suffer the harmful and life-threatening 
effects of traditional and cultural practices that con- tinue under the 
guise of cultural and social conformism    and    religious    beliefs. 
Examples include:
Female Genital Mutilation  (FGM):  It  has been  estimated  that  nearly  
130  million women worldwide have undergone FGM and   that   approximately  
 two   million undergo the procedure every year. FGM
the age of 18. Of these, girls are far more likely to be victims of incest 
than boys.16


Forced prostitution
Forced prostitution or other kinds of com- mercial exploitation by male 
partners or parents is another form of violence against
6       women and children reported worldwide.
Killing in the Name of Honour

The issue of killings in the name of honour began to appear on the 
political agenda in
Pakistan in 1999 as a result of growing pressure from NGOs, the media, 
activists, and
UN agencies including UNICEF. On 21 April, 2000, at a National Convention 
on Human Rights and Human Dignity, General Pervez Musharraf, The Chief 
Executive of Pakistan announced that such killings would be treated as 
murder. “The Government of Pakistan, vigorously condemns the practice of 
so-called ‘honour killing’. Such actions do not find
any place in our religion or law.” The killings continue, but steps are now 
being taken to address the issue.
Main issues



takes place in 28 countries in Africa (both
eastern and western), in some regions in Asia and the Middle East, and in 
certain immigrant    communities    in    North America, Europe and 
Australia. It can lead to  death  and  infertility,  and  long-term 
psychological  trauma  combined  with extreme physical suffering.
Dowry-related violence: Even though India has  legally  abolished  the  
institution  of dowry, dowry-related violence is actually on the rise. More 
than 5,000 women are killed annually by their husbands and in- laws,  who  
burn  them  in  “accidental”
lenient, particularly if the crime is commit-
ted by boys under 18 years of age.
Early marriages: Early marriage, with or without  the  consent  of  the  
girl,  consti- tutes a form of violence as it undermines the health and 
autonomy of millions of young  girls.  The  legal  minimum  age  of 
marriage is usually lower for females than for  males.  In  many  
countries,  the  mini- mum legal age for marriage with parental consent is 
considerably lower than with-
t
out it; more than 50 countries allow mar-
riage at 16 or below with parental con- sent.23    Early  marriage  leads  
to  child- hood/teenage pregnancy, and can expose the girl to HIV/AIDS and 
other sexually transmitted diseases. It is also associated with adverse 
health effects for her chil- dren,    such    as    low    birthweight. 
Furthermore, it has an adverse effect on the education and employment 
opportu- nities of girls.
kitchen fires if their ongoing demands for dowry before and after marriage 
are not
CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
met. An average of five women a day are
burned,  and  many  more  cases  go  unre- ported.
Deaths by kitchen fires are also on the rise,  for  example,  in  certain  
regions  of Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission of  Pakistan  reports  
that  at  least  four women are burned to death daily by hus- bands and 
family members as a result of domestic disputes.
Acid attacks: Sulphuric acid has emerged as a cheap and easily accessible 
weapon to disfigure and sometimes kill women and girls for reasons as 
varied as family feuds,
inability  to  meet  dowry  demands,  and


There is no one single factor to account for  violence  perpetrated  
against  women. Increasingly, research has focused on the inter-relatedness 
 of  various  factors  that should improve our understanding of the problem 
within different cultural contexts.
Several  complex  and  interconnected institutionalized social and cultural 
factors have kept women particularly vulnerable to  the  violence  directed 
 at  them,  all  of them    manifestations    of    historically unequal 
power relations between men and


women.  Factors  contributing  to  these unequal  power  relations  
include:  socio- economic  forces,  the  family  institution where power 
relations are enforced, fear of and control over female sexuality, belief 
in the inherent superiority of males, and leg- islation  and  cultural  
sanctions  that  have traditionally denied women and children an 
independent legal and social status.
Lack of economic resources underpins women’s  vulnerability  to  violence  
and their  difficulty  in  extricating  themselves
rejection   of   marriage   proposals.   In Bangladesh, it is estimated 
that there are over 200 acid attacks each year.
Killing  in  the  name  of  honour:  In  several countries in the world 
including, but not limited  to,  Bangladesh,  Egypt,  Jordan, Lebanon, 
Pakistan, and Turkey, women are killed in order to uphold the “honour” of 
the family. Any reason – alleged adultery, premarital relationships (with 
or without sexual relations), rape, falling in love with
a person of whom the family disapproves – are all reason enough for a male 
member of the family to kill the woman concerned. In 1997, more than 300 
women were vic- tims of these so-called “honour” crimes in just one 
province of Pakistan. In Jordan, the official toll is rising and in reality 
the numbers  are  higher  because  many  such murders are recorded as 
suicides or acci- dents. Victim-survivors of attempted mur- ders are forced 
to remain in protective cus- tody, knowing that leaving custody would 
result in death at the hands of the family. The  penal  codes  in  Jordan  
that  govern crimes of honour also sanction killing by making  the  penalty 
 disproportionately
Table 3 - Factors That Perpetuate Domestic Violence

Cultural         l  Gender-specific socialization
l  Cultural definitions of appropriate sex roles
l  Expectations of roles within relationships
l  Belief in the inherent superiority of males
l  Values that give men proprietary rights over women and girls
l  Notion of the family as the private sphere and under male control
l  Customs of marriage (bride price/dowry)
l  Acceptability of violence as a means to resolve conflict

Economic       l  Women’s economic dependence on men
l  Limited access to cash and credit
l  Discriminatory laws regarding inheritance, property rights, use of 
communal lands, and maintenance after divorce or widowhood
l  Limited access to employment in formal and informal sectors
l  Limited access to education and training for women

Legal             l  Lesser legal status of women either by written law 
and/or by practice
l  Laws regarding divorce, child custody, maintenance and inheritance
l  Legal definitions of rape and domestic abuse
l  Low levels of legal literacy among women
l  Insensitive treatment of women and girls by police and judiciary

Political          l  Under-representation of women in power, politics, the 
media and in the legal and medical professions
l  Domestic violence not taken seriously
l  Notions of family being private and beyond control of the state
l  Risk of challenge to status quo/religious laws
l  Limited organization of women as a political force
l  Limited participation of women in organized political system

(Source: Heise. 1994)            7
Main issues



from  a  violent  relationship.  The  link
between  violence  and  lack  of  economic resources and dependence is 
circular. On the one hand, the threat and fear of vio- lence keeps women 
from seeking employ- ment, or, at best, compels them to accept low-paid, 
home-based exploitative labour. And on the other, without economic inde- 
pendence,  women  have  no  power  to escape from an abusive 
relationship.24
The reverse of this argument also holds true  in  some  countries;  that  
is,  women’s increasing economic activity and indepen- dence is viewed as a 
threat which leads to increased male violence.25  This is particu- larly 
true when the male partner is unem- ployed, and feels his power undermined 
in the household.
Studies have also linked a rise in violence to the destabilization of 
economic patterns in society. Macro-economic policies such as structural  
adjustment  programmes,  global- ization, and the growing inequalities they 
have created, have been linked to increasing levels of violence in several 
regions, includ- ing Latin America, Africa and Asia.26   The transition 
period in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet 
Union – with increases in poverty, unem- ployment,  hardship,  income  
inequality, stress,  and  alcohol  abuse  –  has  led  to increased  
violence  in  society  in  general, including  violence  against  women.  
These factors also act indirectly to raise women’s vulnerability by 
encouraging more risk-tak- ing behaviour, more alcohol and drug abuse, the 
breakdown of social support networks, and the economic dependence of women 
on their partners.27
Cultural ideologies – both in industrial- ized  and  developing  countries  
–  provide
‘legitimacy’ for violence against women in certain  circumstances.  
Religious  and  his- torical  traditions  in  the  past  have  sanc- tioned 
the chastising and beating of wives. The physical punishment of wives has 
been particularly sanctioned under the notion of entitlement  and  
ownership  of  women. Male  control  of  family  wealth  inevitably places 
decision-making authority in male hands, leading to male dominance and pro- 
prietary rights over women and girls.
The  concept  of  ownership,  in  turn, legitimizes control over women’s 
sexuali- ty,  which  in  many  law  codes  has  been deemed  essential  to  
ensure  patrilineal inheritance. Women’s sexuality is also tied
8       to the concept of family honour in many
societies. Traditional norms in these soci-
eties allow the killing of ‘errant’ daughters, sisters and wives suspected 
of defiling the honour of the family by indulging in for- bidden  sex,  or  
marrying  and  divorcing without the consent of the family. By the same 
logic, the honour of a rival ethnic group or society can be defiled by acts 
of sexual violence against its women. Experiences during childhood, such as 
witnessing domestic violence and experi- encing  physical  and  sexual  
abuse,  have been identified as factors that put children at risk. Violence 
may be learnt as a means of  resolving  conflict  and  asserting  man- hood 
 by  children  who  have  witnessed such patterns of conflict resolution. 
Excessive consumption of alcohol and other drugs has also been noted as a 
factor in provoking aggressive and violent male behaviour towards women and 
children. A survey of domestic violence in Moscow revealed  that  half  the 
 cases  of  physical abuse  are  associated  with  the  husband’s excessive 
alcohol consumption.28
The isolation of women in their fami- lies  and  communities  is  known  to 
 con- tribute to increased violence, particularly if those women have 
little access to family or local organizations. On the other hand, women’s  
participation  in  social  networks has been noted as a critical factor in 
less- ening their vulnerability to violence and in their ability to resolve 
domestic violence. These networks could be informal (family
t
CONSEQUENCES


Denial of fundamental rights
Perhaps the most crucial consequence of violence  against  women  and  
girls  is  the denial  of  fundamental  human  rights  to women  and  
girls.  International  human rights  instruments  such  as  the  Universal 
Declaration  of  Human  Rights  (UDHR), adopted in 1948, the Convention on 
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against  Women  (CEDAW),  
adopted  in
1979, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted in 1989, 
affirm the  principles  of  fundamental  rights  and freedoms  of  every  
human  being.  Both CEDAW  and  the  CRC  are  guided  by  a
and  neighbours)  or  formal  (community
organizations,  women’s  self-help  groups, or affiliated to political 
parties).29
Lack  of  legal  protection,  particularly within  the  sanctity  of  the  
home,  is  a strong  factor  in  perpetuating  violence against women. 
Until recently, the pub- lic/private distinction that has ruled most legal 
systems has been a major obstacle to women’s  rights.  Increasingly,  
however, States are seen as responsible for protect- ing the rights of 
women even in connec- tion with offences committed within the home. In many 
countries violence against women is exacerbated by legislation, law 
enforcement and judicial systems that do not  recognize  domestic  violence 
 as  a crime. The challenge is to end impunity for the perpetrators as one 
means of pre- venting future abuse.
Investigations   by   Human   Rights Watch have found that in cases of 
domes- tic violence, law enforcement officials fre- quently  reinforce  the 
 batterers’  attempts to control and demean their victims. Even though 
several countries now have laws that condemn domestic violence, “when 
committed against a woman in an intimate relationship, these attacks are 
more often tolerated as the norm than prosecuted as laws....In many places, 
those who commit domestic violence are prosecuted less vig- orously and 
punished more leniently than perpetrators  of  similarly  violent  crimes 
against strangers.”30









broad  concept  of  human  rights  that stretches beyond civil and 
political rights to  the  core  issues  of  economic  survival, health, and 
education that affect the quali- ty of daily life for most women and chil- 
dren.  The  two  Conventions  call  for  the right  to  protection  from  
gender-based abuse and neglect.
The strength of these treaties rests on an   international   consensus,   
and   the assumption  that  all  practices  that  harm women and girls, no 
matter how deeply they  are  embedded  in  culture,  must  be eradicated. 
Legally binding under interna- tional law for governments that have rati- 
fied  them,  these  treaties  oblige  govern- ments  not  only  to  protect 
 women  from
Main issues



crimes of violence, but also to investigate
violations when they occur and to bring the perpetrators to justice.31


Human development goals undermined
There is a growing recognition that coun- tries  cannot  reach  their  full 
 potential  as long  as  women’s  potential  to  participate fully in their 
society is denied. Data on the social, economic and health costs of vio- 
lence leave no doubt that violence against women   undermines   progress   
towards human   and   economic   development. Women’s participation has 
become key in all  social  development  programmes,  be they  
environmental,  for  poverty  allevia- tion, or for good governance. By 
hamper- ing the full involvement and participation of  women,  countries  
are  eroding  the human  capital  of  half  their  populations. True 
indicators of a country’s commitment to gender equality lie in its actions 
to elim- inate  violence  against  women  in  all  its forms and in all 
areas of life.


Health consequences
Domestic violence against women leads to far-reaching  physical  and  
psychological consequences,  some  with  fatal  outcomes (see Table 4). 
While physical injury repre- sents  only  a  part  of  the  negative  
health impacts on women, it is among the more

Table 4 - Health Consequences of Violence Against Women

NON-FATAL OUTCOMES
Physical health outcomes:
l  Injury (from lacerations to fractures and internal organs injury)
l  Unwanted pregnancy
l  Gynaecological problems l  STDs including HIV/AIDS l  Miscarriage
l  Pelvic inflammatory disease
l  Chronic pelvic pain
l  Headaches
l  Permanent disabilities
l  Asthma
l  Irritable bowel syndrome
l  Self-injurious behaviours
(smoking, unprotected sex)

Mental health outcomes:
l  Depression
l  Fear
l  Anxiety
l  Low self-esteem
l  Sexual dysfunction
l  Eating problems
l  Obsessive-compulsive disorder
l  Post traumatic stress disorder

FATAL OUTCOMES
l  Suicide
l  Homicide
l  Maternal mortality
l  HIV/AIDS

(Source:  “Violence against Women”, WHO Consultation, 1996)
to illegal abortions. Girls who have been
sexually  abused  in  their  childhood  are more likely to engage in risky 
behaviour such as early sexual intercourse, and are at greater risk of 
unwanted and early preg- nancies.33  Women in violent situations are less 
able to use contraception or negotiate safer sex, and therefore run a high 
risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.34
The  impact  of  violence  on  women’s mental  health  leads  to  severe  
and  fatal consequences.  Battered  women  have  a high incidence of stress 
and stress-related illnesses such as post-traumatic stress syn- drome, 
panic attacks, depression, sleeping and  eating  disturbances,  elevated  
blood pressure, alcoholism, drug abuse, and low self-esteem.  For  some  
women,  fatally depressed and demeaned by their abuser, there seems to be 
no escape from a violent relationship except suicide.


Impact on children
Children  who  have  witnessed  domestic violence or have themselves been 
abused, exhibit  health  and  behaviour  problems, including  problems  
with  their  weight, their eating and their sleep.39   They may have 
difficulty at school and find it hard to develop close and positive 
friendships. They may try to run away or even display suicidal tendencies.
visible  forms  of  violence.  The  United States Department of Justice has 
reported that 37 per cent of all women who sought medical care in hospital 
emergency rooms for violence-related injuries were injured by
a  current  or  former  spouse  or  partner.32
Assaults  result  in  injuries  ranging  from bruises and fractures to 
chronic disabilities such as partial or total loss of hearing or vision,  
and  burns  may  lead  to  disfigure- ment. The medical complications 
resulting from  FGM  can  range  from  haemorrhage and sterility to severe 
psychological trau- ma. Studies in many countries have shown high levels of 
violence during pregnancy resulting in risk to the health of both the 
mother and the unborn foetus. In the worst cases, all of these examples of 
domestic vio- lence can result in the death of the woman
– murdered by her current or ex-partner.
Sexual  assaults  and  rape  can  lead  to unwanted pregnancies, and the 
dangerous complications that follow from resorting
Domestic Violence and HIV/AIDS

Nearly 14 million women today are infected with HIV and the rate of female 
infection is
rising. A forthcoming study from WHO finds that the greatest risk of HIV 
infection for many women comes from a regular partner, and is heightened by 
an unequal relationship that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to 
negotiate safe sex. For these women, sex is not a
matter of choice.35
A study of women aged 18 and over in one province in Zimbabwe found that 26 
per cent
of married women reported being forced to have sex when they did not want 
to. It is widely acknowledged that, even when a woman is aware that her 
partner has other sexual partners,
or is HIV infected, she may not be in a position to insist on condom use or 
monogamy. Most
HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, however, advocate both methods. Many women 
would feel that any attempt to discuss such measures would provoke yet more 
violence.36
Other studies have found that the spread of HIV/AIDS in some parts of 
Africa is being exacerbated by practices that see women as the ‘property’ 
of men. The tradition of wife or widow inheritance, for example, is fairly 
common in eastern and southern Africa. When a woman’s husband dies, his 
wife and property are often inherited by his eldest brother. In western 
Kenya women have been forced to marry, even when their husbands have died 
of AIDS, when they themselves are infected, or when their future husband 
has AIDS. There are no laws to address this practice in Kenya.37
Sexual cleansing is a more recent phenomena, resulting from, and 
contributing to, the spread of HIV/AIDS. Practised within extended families 
in western Kenya, Zimbabwe and parts of Ghana, it is based on the belief 
that a man can be cured of HIV/AIDS if he has sex
with a young girl who is a virgin. Girls as young as eight are selected to 
ensure their purity.38
A new approach is required that acknowledges the links between violence 
against women and the spread of HIV/AIDS, and translates this into policies 
and programmes for HIV prevention and care.
(continued on page 12)         9
Discussion site

t

COMBATING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: OBLIGATIONS OF THE STATE
by Radhika Coomaraswamy
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women*


Domestic violence, whether it is perpetrated
by private or state actors, constitutes a vio- lation of human rights. It 
is the duty of states to ensure that there is no impunity for the 
perpetrators  of  such  violence.  Often  state policies and inaction 
perpetuate or condone such violence within the domestic sphere. States have 
a double duty under internation- al  human  rights  law.  They  are  not  
only required not to commit human rights viola- tions,  but  also  to  
prevent  and  respond  to human rights abuses.
In the past, human rights protection was interpreted narrowly – state 
inaction to pre- vent and punish violations was not viewed as
a failure in its duty to protect human rights. The concept of state 
responsibility has now developed to recognize that states also have an 
obligation to take preventive and puni- tive steps where rights violations 
by private actors occur.


International legal standards
Three doctrines, developed by human rights scholars and activists, have to 
be taken into account when dealing with the issue of vio- lence against 
women by private actors. The first  is  that  states  have  a  
responsibility  to exercise  due  diligence  to  prevent,  investi- gate 
and punish international law violations and pay just compensation.
Due diligence
In   1992,   the   Committee   on   the Elimination   of   Discrimination   
Against Women    (CEDAW)    adopted    General Recommendation 19, in which 
it confirmed that  violence  against  women  constitutes  a violation  of  
human  rights  and  emphasizes that “States may also be responsible for 
pri- vate acts if they fail to act with due diligence to prevent violations 
of rights or to investi- gate and punish acts of violence, and for pro- 
viding   compensation”.1     The   Committee made  recommendations  on  
measures  states should take to provide effective protection of women 
against violence, including:
(1) effective legal measures, including penal sanctions, civil remedies and 
compensatory
10      provisions  to  protect  women  against  all
kinds  of  violence,  including  violence  and
abuse in the family, sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace;
(2) preventive  measures,  including  public information  and  education  
programmes  to change  attitudes  concerning  the  roles  and status of men 
and women;
(3) protective  measures,  including  refuges, counselling,  rehabilitation 
 action  and  sup- port services for women who are experienc- ing violence 
or who are at risk of violence.
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination  of  Violence  Against  
Women also calls on States to “pursue by all appro- priate means and 
without delay a policy of eliminating  violence  against  women”  and, 
further to “exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in 
accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against 
women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private 
persons”.2
The concept of due diligence has been taken forward by the judgement of the 
Inter- American  Court  of  Human  Rights  in  the case  of  Velásquez  
Rodríguez.  The  Court required the government to “take reasonable steps to 
prevent human rights violations and to use the means at its disposal to 
carry out
a serious investigation of violations commit- ted within this jurisdiction, 
to identify those responsible, to impose the appropriate pun- ishment and 
to ensure the victim adequate compensation”.3
Thus,  the  existence  of  a  legal  system criminalizing  and  providing  
sanctions  for domestic assault would not in itself be suffi- cient; the 
government would have to per- form its functions to “effectively ensure” 
that incidents  of  family  violence  are  actually investigated and 
punished.4
Equal protection of the law
This doctrine is related to the concept of equality and equal protection. 
If it can be shown  that  law  enforcement  discriminates against the 
victims in cases involving vio- lence against women, then the State may be 
held liable for violating international human rights standards of equality.
The Convention on the Elimination of All   Forms   of   Discrimination   
Against Women, in Article 2, requires State parties
to  “pursue  by  all  appropriate  means  and
without  delay  a  policy  of  eliminating  dis- crimination against 
women”, which includes the duty to “refrain from engaging in any act or 
practice of discrimination against women and  to  ensure  that  public  
authorities  and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation” 
and “to take all appropriate mea- sures,  including  legislation,  to  
modify  or abolish  existing  laws,  regulations,  customs and  practices  
which  constitute  discrimina- tion against women”.
Domestic violence as torture
This  school  of  thought  argues  that domestic violence is a form of 
torture and should be dealt with accordingly. The argu- ment is that, 
depending on the severity and the   circumstances   giving   rise   to   
state responsibility, domestic violence can consti- tute torture or cruel, 
inhuman and degrading treatment    or    punishment    under    the 
International   Covenant   on   Civil   and Political   Rights,   and   the 
  Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 
Treatment or Punishment.
It  is  argued  that  domestic  violence involves the very four critical 
elements that constitute torture: (a) it causes severe physi- cal and or 
mental pain, it is (b) intentionally inflicted, (c) for specified purposes 
and (d) with  some  form  of  official  involvement, whether active or 
passive.
Proponents  of  this  argument  call  for domestic  violence  to  be  
understood  and treated as a form of torture and, when less severe, 
ill-treatment. This argument deserves consideration by the rapporteurs and 
treaty bodies  that  investigate  these  violations, together  perhaps  
with  appropriate  NGO experts and jurists.


Responses to combat domestic violence
Today, many States recognize the impor- tance of protecting women from 
abuse and punishing  the  perpetrators  of  the  crimes. One  of  the  
major  questions  facing  law reformers  is  whether  to  ‘criminalize’  
wife battery. There is a sense that domestic vio- lence  is  a  crime  
between  those  who  are
Discussion site



linked by bonds of intimacy. The question
of  intimacy,  i.e.  whether  wife-battering should be treated as an 
ordinary crime or whether  there  should  be  an  emphasis  on counselling  
and  mediation,  poses  a  major dilemma for policy makers.
Criminalization
Advocates   of   the   criminal   justice approach point to the symbolic 
power of the law and argue that arrest, prosecution and  conviction,  with  
punishment,  is  a process that carries the clear condemnation of society 
for the conduct of the abuser and acknowledges  his  personal  
responsibility for the activity.  Research conducted by the Minneapolis 
Police Department has shown that 19 per cent of those involved in medi- 
ation and 24 per cent of those ordered to leave their matrimonial homes 
repeated the assault, but only 10 per cent of those who were arrested 
indulged in further violence.5
It is, however, critical that those involved in  policy  making  in  this  
area  take  into account the cultural, economic and politi- cal realities 
of their countries. Any policy which  fails  to  acknowledge  the  singular 
nature of these crimes and which is unac- companied by attempts to provide 
support for  the  victim-survivor  and  help  for  the abuser is doomed to 
fail.
Legislation
Legislation with regard to domestic vio- lence is a modern phenomenon. 
There is an increasing belief that special laws should be drafted, having 
special remedies and proce- dures.  The  first  problem  that  arises  with 
regard to legislation is to allow for prosecu- tion of men who beat their 
spouses even if the latter, under pressure, want to withdraw their  claims. 
 In  response  some  countries have  instructed  police  and  prosecutors  
to proceed with cases even in situations where women  indicated  that  they 
 would  rather not proceed.6  In addition, since the spouse will be the 
main witness, some jurisdictions have  introduced  legislation  making  the 
woman  a  “compellable  witness”  except  in certain situations. Other 
countries, such as the  United  States,  are  moving  towards advocacy 
support.
Quasi-criminal  remedies  are  also  being utilized  by  several  
countries.  The  most important  of  these  are  the  “protection”  or 
“bound over” orders. These are procedures by which a person can complain to 
a magis- trate  or  a  justice  that  violence  has  taken place and the 
violent party is then “bound over” to keep the peace or be of good behav- 
iour.  The  standard  of  proof  is  lower  than with strictly criminal 
proceedings and this may provide some women with appropriate relief, with a 
court order obtainable on the balance of probabilities. Breach of the order 
is  a  criminal  offence  and  the  police  may
arrest, without a warrant, a person who has
contravened a protection order.
Civil law remedies, such as an injunction which is used to support a 
primary cause of action  such  as  divorce,  nullity  or  judicial 
separation, can also be utilized. Some juris- dictions have enacted 
legislation removing the  requirement  of  applying  for  principle relief 
and allowing the woman to apply for injunctive relief independently of any 
other legal action.7  Another civil remedy which is available in certain 
states in the USA is an action  in  tort  claiming  damages  from  the 
marital partner.8
Police action
In most jurisdictions the power of the police to enter private premises is 
limited. In the context of domestic violence this can protect the violent 
man at the expense of the  woman.  Some  legislations  allow  the police to 
enter if requested to do so by a person  who  apparently  resides  on  the 
premises or where the officer has reason to believe  that  a  person  on  
the  premises  is under attack or imminent attack.9  In many cases  of  
domestic  violence,  immediate release of the offender on bail may be dan- 
gerous  for  the  woman  and,  certainly, release  without  prior  warning  
may  have serious consequences for her. A number of Australian 
jurisdictions attempt to strike a balance   between   the   interests   of  
 the offender and the woman by specifying con- ditions  designed  to  
protect  her  to  be attached to the release of the offender.10
Training and community support services
Most  police,  prosecutors,  magistrates,
judges and doctors adhere to traditional val- ues that support the family 
as an institution and the dominance of the male party with- in it. It is 
therefore necessary to train law enforcers and medical and legal 
profession- als who come in contact with those experi- encing violence to 
understand gender vio- lence, to appreciate the trauma of those suf- fering 
and to take proper evidence for crim- inal proceedings. Professionals in 
law and medicine are often resistant to this type of training and to 
learning from anyone out- side their speciality. It would therefore be more 
effective to involve other profession- als in the training programme.
The nature of the crime of domestic vio- lence requires the intervention of 
the com- munity  to  assist  and  support  victim-sur- vivors.  Community  
workers  should  be trained to give them information on the law and law 
enforcement, available financial and other support offered by the State, 
the pro- cedures  for  obtaining  such  assistance,  etc. Community workers 
can also play an impor- tant  role  in  identifying  violence,  raising 
awareness  about  such  issues  and  directing
survivors to the correct procedures for seek-
ing redress.
Any  relief  given  to  domestic  violence victims should also include 
counselling for both the battered and the batterers. These programmes  can  
even  serve  as  alternative sentencing options especially in cases where 
women prefer that their partners “get help” rather  than  be  punished.  In 
 order  to  be effective, all these approaches should utilize formal and 
informal methods of education and dissemination of information.
Cooperation at all levels Overwhelmingly,  governments  lack  the necessary 
 expertise  to  develop  and  imple- ment  policy  relating  to  violence  
against women. Therefore, a more cooperative rela- tionship  between  
governments  and  civil society should be built to combat violence against 
women.
An integrated, multidisciplinary approach with lawyers, psychologists, 
social workers, doctors and others working together to gain
a holistic understanding of each particular case and the needs of the 
individual is the best option. Giving attention to the real-life context of 
the battered woman, her hope- lessness, dependency, restricted options, and 
her  consequent  need  for  empowerment, should underpin every approach. 
The goal is to work with her to develop her capacity to decide her own 
future.

*The Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women  was  appointed  by  the  
United  Nations Commission  on  Human  Rights  in  1994  with  a mandate  
to:  seek  and  receive  information  from governments,  organizations  and 
 individuals  on violence against women; recommend measures to eliminate  
such  violence  and  remedy  its  conse- quences; and carry out field 
visits.

1   Committee  on  the  Elimination  of  Violence Against  Women,  Eleventh 
 Session,  General Recommendation 19, Official Records of the General  
Assembly,  Forty-seventh  Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/47/38), Ch.1.
2   General  Assembly  Resolution  48/104  of  20
December 1993, Article 4.
3   Veláquez Rodríguez Case (Honduras), 4 Inter.
Am. Ct. HR, Ser. C, No.4, 1988, para 174.
4   Ibid, para 167.
5   Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment.
6   Confronting Violence: A Manual for Common- wealth  Action,  Women  and  
Development Programme,  Human  Resource  Development Group,  Commonwealth  
Secretariat,  London, June 1992.
7   Australia, Family Law Act, 1975, Sections 114,
70 C’ Hong Kong, Domestic Violence Order,
1986; Matrimonial Causes Act, 1989, section 10.
8   “Developments in the law- Legal responses to domestic violence”,106 
Harvard Law Review,
1993, p.1531.
9   Justices Act, 1959 (Tas) section 106F; Crimes
Act 1900 (NSW), section 349A.
10 Bail Act 1978 (NSW) section 37; Bail Act 1980
(Qld); Bail Act 1985 (SA) section 11.                     11
Main issues



Witnessing and experiencing violence as
a child can also result in internalizing vio- lence as a form of conflict 
resolution. Girls who witness their mother being abused may
be  more  likely  to  accept  violence  as  the
norm in a marriage than those who come from non-violent homes. While many 
chil- dren from violent homes do not grow up to
be violent, those who have witnessed vio-
lence  in  childhood  are  more  likely  to become adults who engage in 
violent behav- iour both inside and outside the home.


Violence in the Home Undermines Child Survival

A study in León, Nicaragua reports that children of women who were 
physically and sexually abused by their partners were six times
more likely than other children to die before the age of five.40  
Similarly, children of beaten women were more likely than other children to
be malnourished and to have had a recent episode of diarrhoea, and less 
likely to have received oral rehydration therapy or be immunized (see 
Figure 1). The study was carefully controlled to exclude other possible 
factors affecting infant and child survival.
A study in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh also found 
that women who had been beaten were significantly more
likely than non-abused women to have had a pregnancy loss from abortion, 
miscarriage, or stillbirth, or to have lost an infant. The study
controlled for other influences on infant
mortality such as mother's education, age, and     80
parity.41  In rural Karnataka, India, a study found
that children of mothers who were beaten           70
received less food than other children did,
suggesting that these women could not              60
bargain with their husbands on their children's
behalf.42                                                                   
                                                          50
While the exact manner in which violence
against women affects child survival is not           40
known, one possible explanation is that
children of mothers who are abused are more      30
likely to be born underweight, and thus carry a
higher risk factor of dying in infancy or                20
childhood. Another explanation is that women
in abusive relationships suffer from lower self-       10
esteem, weaker bargaining position, less access

Figure 1 - Domestic Violence and Child Health, Nicaragua










Mother experiencing violence
Mother not experiencing violence




All differences significant at the level of p<.05; Source: Rosales Ortiz 
1999;
to food and resources, and are therefore less
able to care for their children.43

t
0
Infant mortality        Under-5
mortality
Diarrhoea          Malnutrition       % children immunized
cited in Heise (1999).44
CALCULATING THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC COSTS OF VIOLENCE

Calculating the costs of violence is a strate- gic  intervention  to  make  
policy-makers more  aware  about  the  importance  and effectiveness of 
prevention. Studies carried out   in   Canada,   the   United   States, 
Switzerland,  the  United  Kingdom,  and Australia  calculate  costs  using 
 different parameters.45   The  Canadian  study,  which estimated  the  
costs  of  violence  against women  in  the  larger  context  of  violence 
both  within  and  outside  the  home,  con- cluded that the state spends 
over CDN$1 billion  annually  on  services,  including police, criminal 
justice system, counselling, and  training.46    For  the  United  States, 
according  to  one  study,  cost  estimates range  between  US$5  and  
US$10  billion annually.47 These studies, it should be noted, refer only to 
direct service-related costs and do not address the human costs of 
violence.
In  1993,  the  World  Bank  estimated that  in  industrialized  countries  
health

costs  for  domestic  violence  and  rape accounted for nearly one in five 
disability- adjusted life years* lost to women age 15 to 44.48  The health 
costs of domestic vio- lence and rape are the same in industrial- ized   
and   developing   countries,   but because the overall burden of disease 
is much  higher  in  developing  countries,  a smaller percentage is 
attributed to gender- based victimization. In developing coun- tries, 
depending on the region, estimates range from 5 to 16 per cent of healthy 
years lost to women of reproductive age as a result of domestic violence. 
49
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has recently carried out studies 
in six countries   in   Latin   America   –   Brazil, Colombia, El 
Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela – taking a more holistic look at the 
socio-economic cost of domestic vio- lence.50   For  analytical  purposes,  
the  IDB has  divided  the  costs  of  domestic  and

social violence into four categories using the following framework (see 
Table 5)51:
(i) Direct costs take into account expen- ditures on psychological 
counselling and medical treatment (emergency room care, hospitalizations, 
care in clinics and doc- tors’ offices, treatment for sexually trans- 
mitted diseases); police services including time spent on arrests and 
responding to calls; costs imposed on the criminal justice system (prison 
and detention, prosecution and court cases); housing and shelters for women 
and their children; and social ser- vices  (prevention  and  advocacy  pro- 
grammes,  job  training,  and  training  for police,  doctors,  the  
judiciary  and  the media).
(ii) Non-monetary costs that do not draw upon medical services, but in 
themselves take a heavy toll on the victim-survivors by way of increased 
morbidity and mor- tality   through   homicide   and   suicide,


*The Bank estimates count every year lost due to premature death as one 
disability-adjusted life year (DALY), and every year spent sick or 
incapacitated as a fraction of a
12      DALY, with the value depending on the severity of disability.
Main issues



increased dependence on drugs and alco-
hol and other depressive disorders. These are the intangible costs that are 
compara- ble, according to World Bank estimates, to other  risk  factors  
and  diseases  such  as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cancer, cardiovas- cular 
disease, and sepsis during childbirth. (iii) Economic multiplier effects 
include, for example, decreased female labour par- ticipation  and  reduced 
 productivity  at work, and lower earnings. In the United States, it has 
been reported that 30 per cent of abused women lost their jobs as a direct  
result  of  the  abuse.52   A  study  in
who are not victims of severe abuse.54
(iv)  Social  multiplier  effects  include  the inter-generational  impact  
of  violence  on children, erosion of social capital, reduced quality of 
life and reduced participation in democratic processes. These effects are 
dif- ficult to measure quantitatively, but their impact is substantial in 
terms of a country’s social and economic development.
It is clear that all sectors of society are deeply  affected  by,  and  
bear  the  conse- quences of, violence against women. More
studies  need  to  be  carried  out  in  both
developing and industrialized countries to estimate the costs of domestic 
violence in order to advocate for national policies to eradicate this 
largely preventable crime.
A major knowledge gap also exists on the cost-effectiveness of 
interventions for domestic violence.55   This is an important area of 
research that would provide guid- ance on effective, workable and 
replicable programmes,  and  thereby  help  channel resources and energy in 
the right direction.
Santiago,  Chile  estimates  that  women
who do not suffer physical violence earn
Table 5 - The Socio-Economic Costs of Violence: a Typology

an average of US$385 per month while women who face severe physical 
violence at  home  earn  only  US$150  –  in  other words, less than half 
the earnings of other women.53   The study also focuses on the 
macro-economic impact as a result of loss of women’s earnings.
Another  effect  under  this  category  is the potential impact of domestic 
violence on the future capacity of children to obtain adequate employment. 
Apart from the loss of human capital, there are direct costs on the school 
system as children from violent homes  may  perform  badly  and  have  to 
repeat grades. According to an IDB study in Nicaragua, 63 per cent of 
children from families in which women are subjected to domestic violence 
repeat a grade at school, and on average drop out at age 9, com- pared with 
age 12 for children of women
t
Direct costs: value of goods
and services used in treating or preventing violence



Non-monetary costs:
pain and suffering



Economic multiplier effects: macro-economic, labour market, 
inter-generational productivity impacts





Social multiplier effects: impact on interpersonal relations and quality of 
life
l  Medical
l  Police
l  Criminal justice system
l  Housing
l  Social services

l  Increased morbidity
l  Increased mortality via homicide and suicide
l  Abuse of alcohol and drugs
l  Depressive disorders

l  Decreased labour market participation
l  Reduced productivity on the job
l  Lower earnings
l  Increased absenteeism
l  Intergenerational productivity impacts via grade repetition and lower 
education attainment of children
l  Decreased investment and saving
l  Capital flight

l  Intergenerational transmission of violence
l  Reduced quality of life
l  Erosion of social capital
l  Reduced participation in democratic process

(Source: Buvinic et al, 1999)
STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS:
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

Domestic violence is a complex problem
and  there  is  no  one  strategy  that  will work in all situations. To 
begin with, vio- lence may take place within very differ- ent societal 
contexts, and the degree to which it is sanctioned by a community will 
naturally influence the kind of strat- egy needed.
Considering   the   interconnections between   the   factors   responsible  
 for domestic violence – gender dynamics of power, culture and economics – 
strategies and  interventions  should  be  designed within  a  
comprehensive  and  integrated
framework. A multi-layered strategy that
addresses the structural causes of violence against women while providing 
immedi- ate  services  to  victim-survivors  ensures sustainability and is 
the only strategy that has the potential to eliminate this scourge.
When  planning  strategies  and  inter- ventions, there are a variety of 
stakehold- ers   that   should   be   borne   in   mind. Partnerships with 
these stakeholders can operate on several levels at once.
l  At   the   level   of   the   family,   the stakeholders   include   
women,   men, adolescents and children.
l  Within  the  local  community,  partner-
ships   have   to   be   developed   with traditional  elders,  religious  
leaders, community-based  groups,  neighbour- hood  associations,  men’s  
groups  (e.g., village   farmers’   associations),   local councils and 
village level bodies.
l  Within  civil  society,  the  range  of partners  include  professional  
groups, women’s and men’s groups, NGOs, the private sector, the media, 
academia, and trade unions.
l  At  the  state  level,  strategies  must  be
designed in partnership with the criminal        13
Main issues



justice system (the police, judiciary and
lawyers);   the   health   care   system; parliament  and  provincial  
legislative bodies; and the education sector.
l  At    the    international    level,    the stakeholders    include    
international organizations   (such   as   the   United Nations agencies, 
the World Bank, and the regional development banks). Domestic  violence  is 
 a  health,  legal, economic,  educational,  developmental and  human  
rights  problem.  Strategies should  be  designed  to  operate  across  a 
broad range of areas depending upon the context in which they are 
delivered. Key areas for intervention include:
l  advocacy and awareness raising
l  education for building a culture of non- violence
l  training
l  resource development
l  direct   service   provision   to   victim- survivors and perpetrators
l  networking and community mobilization
l  direct  intervention  to  help  victim- survivors rebuild their lives
l  legal reform
l  monitoring interventions and measures
l  data collection and analysis
l  early identification of ‘at risk’ families, communities, groups, and 
individuals. These  areas  are  not  mutually  exclusive; interventions  
may  touch  upon  several areas at once.
Above  all,  five  underlying  principles should guide all strategies and 
interven- tions attempting to address domestic vio- lence:
l  prevention
l  protection
l  early intervention
l  rebuilding the lives of victim-survivors
l  accountability
This section of the Digest attempts to formulate  a  framework  for  
coordinated action at the policy and programme level. An  effective  
strategy  is  one  that  is designed to be culture- and region-specif- ic, 
providing victim-survivors easy access to  wide-ranging  services,  and  
involving the community and individual stakehold- ers  in  the  design  of  
interventions.  By focusing on the stakeholders and by high- lighting 
responsibilities of the family, the local  community,  the  civil  society, 
 the state, and international organizations, this framework  points  to  
relevant  areas  of
14       action.
The family
WOMEN Because their life and dignity are at stake, women have emerged as 
the most significant agents of change in the strug- gle against 
gender-based violence. While women’s organizations have played a crit- ical 
role (see section on civil society), the collective  strength  and  courage 
 of  indi- vidual women has been notable in fight- ing  many  forms  of  
violence.  Poor  and often illiterate, these women have man- aged  to  
mobilize  hundreds  of  other women, raised resources, designed strate- 
gies  and  forced  policy-makers  to  revise laws and policies. A 
systematic effort has to be made to listen to the voices of grass- roots  
women  and  survivors  of  domestic violence,  and  to  incorporate  
solutions they have to offer. Their perspectives will provide  valuable  
lessons  in  making  pro- grammes and services effective and target- ed to 
their needs.
Women   need   to   be   empowered through education, employment opportu- 
nities, legal literacy, and right to inheri- tance. Human rights education 
and infor- mation   regarding   domestic   violence should be provided to 
them because this is
a   matter   of   their   absolute   rights. Integrated supportive 
services, legal inter- vention and redress should be made avail- able  in  
situations  of  domestic  violence. Assistance  to  help  women  rebuild  
and recover their lives after violence should be part of the intervention 
strategy, includ- ing  counselling,  relocation,  credit  sup- port, and 
employment.
Consistent support for women must be provided  by  all  relevant  sectors  
–  the criminal  justice  system,  health,  welfare, and the private 
sector. Support must also be available to women via informal net- works 
such as family, friends, neighbours, and local community groups.
Community  groups  and  government institutions should be trained to 
identify women, men, adolescent boys and girls, and children at risk of 
domestic violence, and  to  refer  them  to  confidential  and accessible  
services.  Where  such  services are  not  available,  communities  must  
be helped to establish local culturally appro- priate mechanisms to support 
women.
MEN  There are a growing number of male professionals designing and 
facilitat- ing training events on gender inequality, including the issue of 
violence. Some are
working with other men to review male
behaviour and to develop new models of masculinity (see section on civil 
society). There are examples of male leadership on gender violence in most 
parts of the world and the involvement of men is critical in changing 
behaviour.
Men  should  receive  one  consistent message  from  all  sectors  and  
levels  of society – that those who perpetrate vio- lence will be held 
accountable. The crim- inal justice system must act to reinforce this 
message by taking action against per- petrators, as well as providing 
rehabilita- tion   options   for   those   who   offend. Services need to 
be developed that pro- vide  the  possibility  to  change  violent 
behaviour. These services, offered at the local level, also need to address 
associated issues of drug and alcohol problems.
Men need to challenge other men to stop abusing women, and to change the 
norms that encourage this violence. This requires support for men to act as 
healthy role models to younger men, and the rais- ing  of  boys  in  a  
non-violent  climate  to respect women.
ADOLESCENT   GIRLS   AND   BOYS  Ado- lescent girls need all the protection 
and support that should be available to adult women. They need clear 
messages about their rights from society and the educa- tional  system.  
Educational  programmes that  equip  girls  with  self-esteem  and 
negotiation skills, and enhance participa- tion  of  girls  in  leadership  
roles  should become part of the school curriculum. Adolescent  boys  need  
positive  role models and clear messages from the men in their families and 
society in general that violence against women is not acceptable and  that  
they  will  be  held  accountable. Like  adult  men,  adolescent  boys  
need access to services to help them deal with any violent behaviour they 
may have. Support services need to address asso- ciated  behaviour  
patterns  such  as  drug and alcohol problems, or the risky sexual 
behaviour in which adolescent girls and boys may indulge as a result of 
being vic- timized themselves.
CHILDREN need to be identified as vic- tims of domestic violence, and their 
safe- ty has to be ensured. This requires ensur- ing the safety of their 
mothers and making childcare facilities available to women in shelters. 
Appropriate programmes should be developed by the community and the
Main issues



state to assist children to recover from the
violence  and  abuse  they  have  suffered and/or witnessed.


Local community
In  traditional  societies,  families  have relied  upon  community-based  
support mechanisms to resolve issues of conflict. The local community 
therefore needs to be mobilized to oppose domestic violence in its midst. 
Actions taken by local people may   include   greater   surveillance   of 
domestic violence situations, offering sup- port for victim-survivors, and 
challenging men to stop the violence.
Complacency  needs  to  be  replaced with  active  intervention  and  
education. Community  information  and  education programmes  regarding  
the  nature  and unacceptability   of   domestic   violence should  be  
developed.  Such  programmes
should address cultural forms of behaviour

Children’s Views on Domestic Violence

A recent study by four universities in the United Kingdom examined how 
children and young people perceive domestic violence, and how those who 
have lived with such violence cope with it and make sense of their 
experiences. The research, which covered
1,395 children aged 8-16, found that:
l The vast majority of children at secondary school, and just over half at 
primary age, want
to learn more about domestic violence – what it is and how to stop it – as 
well as to understand why it happens.
l Children  who  live  with  domestic  violence  cope  in  a  variety  of  
ways,  ranging  from keeping themselves safe and trying to protect their 
mothers and siblings, to getting help and intervening directly, by calling 
the police, for example.
l Most children who had lived with domestic violence said that 
professionals, with the exception of refuge workers, either ignored or 
disbelieved them. Children want to be listened to, to be taken seriously 
and to be involved in decisions about their lives. They want support, 
understanding and reassurance, to be in safety with their mothers and have 
their own belongings, and even their pets, around them.
This is a rare example of research focusing on the views of children and 
young
people, and found that children were not silent or passive victims of 
violence. Children
of all ages were quite active in their responses to, and methods of coping 
with, violence, sometimes with understanding and initiative well beyond 
their age.
The study concluded that the perspectives and understanding of children and 
young people should inform the development of appropriate policy and 
practice in health, welfare, education and the criminal justice system as 
well as in specialist services for women and children. Children’s tenacity 
and resilience are key resources with which agencies can work.56
that  uphold  male  aggression,  beating, punishment  and  abuse  of  women 
 as acceptable. Traditional cultural practices, such   as   FGM,   that   
violate   women’s integrity  need  to  be  re-examined  and challenged.  
Culture  is  not  static,  and newer forms of cultural norms need to be 
developed that respect women and pro- mote their dignity and safety.
Community elders and religious leaders
have  the  responsibility  to  demonstrate leadership in this area. For 
example, reli- gious leaders should be encouraged to re- examine  doctrines 
 and  cultural  practices that lead to the subordination of women and 
violation of their rights. Local council bodies  (e.g.,  the  ‘panchayat’  
system  in India) should play a strong role in creating
a  culture  of  non-violence,  in  setting  up
sanctions,  negotiating  appropriate  local cultural responses to 
preventing violence, and monitoring respect for, and implemen- tation of, 
the sanctions that are in place. Creating  awareness  about  the  impact of 
 domestic  violence  on  communities conveys  the  importance  of  
preventing such  violence  against  women  and  chil- dren. Developing 
integrated responses to
Female Genital Mutilation

As a “traditional practice prejudicial to the health of children”, 
governments now have
to take measures to abolish FGM in accordance with their obligations under 
the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 24.3).
While legislation to address FGM is important, cooperation at the community 
level is essential to the process of FGM eradication. The most successful 
campaigns of recent years have had their roots very firmly in the villages 
and communities where FGM is traditionally practised.
One of the most striking examples of change has taken place in Senegal, 
where the movement to end FGM began with the women of one village – 
Malicounda Bambara.
As a result of their courage, 148 communities have now publicly renounced 
the practice and national legislation is in place banning FGM.
In 1995, the women of Malicounda discussed the previously hidden subject of 
FGM during debates on human rights and public health issues organized by 
the NGO Tostan (Breakthrough). Once the discussion began there was no 
stopping it, with friends, husbands, village leaders, the local midwife and 
the “cutters”, drawn into the debate
and the entire village acknowledging, for the first time, the scale of the 
problem. Religious leaders also played an active and crucial role. By 
mid-1997, the practice had
been abolished in Malicounda and former cutters were being given 
encouragement and support to find alternative sources of income.
Spurred on by this success, the women spread the word to other villages, 
with continued support from Tostan, UNICEF and the Government. These 
efforts
culminated in the Diabougou Declaration of February 1998, when the 
representatives
of 13 communities publicly and formally renounced FGM. And in April 2000, 
the women, men and children of 26 islands in the Sine-Saloum river gathered 
on the
island of Niodior to celebrate the end of FGM. The traditional cutters from 
the islands wrapped their mystical cutting knives in cloth to hide them 
from the public eye. Then,
in formal procession, they put the knives into a traditional straw basket, 
symbolizing the end of FGM.57
domestic  violence  through  involvement of  local  community  groups,  
community health workers and women serves to cre- ate   sustainability   
and   accountability, which  in  itself  is  a  significant  step. However, 
since adapting to change is dif- ficult,  protection  should  be  provided  
to activists,  human  rights  advocates  and community  workers.  
Ultimately,  human and financial resources are key to any pro- gramme 
development and delivery.


Civil society
WOMEN’S   ORGANIZATIONS  For  nearly  a quarter  of  a  century,  women’s  
organiza- tions have provided leadership in boost- ing  the  visibility  of 
 violence  against women;  giving  victim-survivors  a  voice through  
tribunals  and  personal  testi- monies;  providing  innovative  forms  of 
support to victims of violence; and forcing governments and the 
international com- munity to recognize their own failure to
protect  women.  From  local,  collective        15
Main issues



action,  women  have  transformed  their
struggle  against  violence  into  a  global campaign.
Women’s advocacy has prompted the formal sectors (legal and judicial 
system, criminal  justice  system,  and  the  health sector) to begin to 
respond to the needs of  women  who  suffer  violence.  Women have pushed 
for policy change and insti- tutional mechanisms to be set up – be it legal 
reform, training of police, or provid- ing shelter to women and their 
children. In  attempting  to  address  the  structural causes of such 
violence, women’s organi- zations have sought to empower women through  
human  rights  education,  credit programmes, and linking women to larger 
networks. It is crucial that women’s advo- cates continue to lead the 
process, partic-

Rethinking Male Roles

Many men are re-evaluating their own role in the family and in society. 
Some are asking themselves why some men are violent, and how can they be 
helped to end their violent behaviour. UNICEF has launched initiatives to 
work with men on improving knowledge about the male role in the family.58  
And men's groups in many countries are taking the
lead to examine cultural and social assumptions on masculinity, and develop 
strategies to help men curb violent behaviour.
In 1993 in Mexico, for example, the Collective of Men for Egalitarian 
Relationships (CORIAC) was set up by a group of men to give aggressive men 
the space for self- examination and re-education. Participants are helped 
to understand their violence, take responsibility for their actions, and 
express their emotions in non-violent ways.
The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) in Canada is an organization of men working 
to end men's violence against women. WRC has developed education and action 
kits that have been distributed to schools, universities, corporations, and 
labour unions. Their
work has expanded to other countries, including countries in Europe.
In Australia, a variety of initiatives are helping men to stop their 
violence, including:
media campaigns speaking to men about the need to take responsibility; a 
men’s hot
line with male volunteers who are trained and supervised to help men and 
refer them to services available; and programmes that assist men to 
overcome violent and abusive behaviour.
ularly   in   playing   a   monitoring   and accountability role, and that 
governments increase partnerships with them.
MEN’S  ORGANIZATIONS  can  also  pro- vide leadership in the local 
community to oppose violence against women, working in collaboration with 
women’s organiza- tions  that  have  expertise  in  this  area. Service   
organizations   can   use   their resources and networks, and men’s nation- 
al and local sporting organizations have a particular place in raising 
men’s awareness of this issue.
PROFESSIONAL  ASSOCIATIONS  for doc- tors, lawyers, psychologists, nurses, 
social workers, welfare workers and other pro- fessionals are key players 
in opposing vio- lence against women. Their members may come  into  contact 
 with  situations  of domestic violence on a regular basis, but may not 
recognize the signs because of their own biases, background or lack of 
training. It is critical that such organiza- tions build domestic violence 
and human rights  curricula  into  their  professional training, and that 
professionals in the field receive  regular  training  on  these  areas. 
Such associations need to develop proto- cols for identifying and referring 
cases of domestic violence to appropriate bodies, and screening measures 
for detection and early intervention. These protocols must be   developed   
in   collaboration   with experts in the domestic violence field.
NON-GOVERNMENTAL  ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs),  like  women’s  organizations, have 
worked in partnership with govern- ment agencies and international 
organiza-
16       tions  to  provide  a  diversity  of  services,
and   education   and   awareness   pro- grammes.  Their  capacity  to  
continue  to deliver  a  range  of  services  should  be strengthened,  
particularly  in  collabora- tion with state agencies.
NGOs have a fundamental role to play in  bringing  pressure  on  
governments  to ratify, or withdraw their reservations to, the  
international  human  rights  instru- ments such as the UDHR, CEDAW and the 
 CRC.  NGOs  have  played  a  critical role  in  monitoring  implementation 
 of non-treaty  instruments  such  as  the  UN Declaration   on   the   
Elimination   of Violence  against  Women,  the  Vienna Declaration  and  
Programme  of  Action, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. 
NGO leadership has to con- tinue in its role of lobbying and advocat- ing 
for legislation that protects the rights of women, girls and children.
THE  PRIVATE  SECTOR has a vested inter- est  in  addressing  this  problem 
 since  the costs of domestic violence to society, and industry  in  
particular,  are  phenomenal  in terms of low productivity, absenteeism, 
and staff  turnover.  The  private  sector  would benefit by identifying 
and supporting staff suffering  from,  or  perpetrating,  domestic 
violence. It should build gender and domes- tic violence awareness into 
corporate train- ing, and develop organizational cultures free of abuse, 
including sexual harassment, in the workplace. The private sector should 
also be  encouraged  to  finance  preventive  and support services in the 
local community. TRADE   UNIONS   must  support  these actions by the 
private sector, using their resources   to   promote   non-violence
towards  women  among  their  members and encouraging members to seek 
appro- priate support and assistance.
THE  MEDIA plays a pivotal role in both influencing and changing social 
norms and behaviour. Repeated exposure to violence in  the  media  has  
been  associated  with increased  incidence  of  aggression,  espe- cially 
in children. In the area of domestic violence,  media  campaigns  can  help 
 to reverse  social  attitudes  that  tolerate  vio- lence against women by 
questioning pat- terns  of  violent  behaviour  accepted  by families and 
societies.59  Collaboration with the media needs to focus on creating new 
messages  and  new  responses  to  reduce domestic  violence.  Hence  a  
conscious effort to make media professionals aware of the issues, can play 
an important role in addressing violence against women. Alternative media 
channels such as the- atre groups, puppeteers, community radio stations,  
musicians  and  performers  of  all sorts have a role to play in raising 
public awareness of the issue, and creating role models for men and young 
people in the community.
RELIGIOUS   LEADERS   AND   SCHOLARS need to re-examine interpretations of 
reli- gious  texts  and  doctrines  from  the  per- spective of promoting 
equality and digni- ty  for  women.  Many  men  who  abuse women justify 
such behaviour on a reli- gious  basis,  and  many  cultural  practices 
that abuse and violate women are justified in the name of religion. 
Religious leaders at all levels have a responsibility to ensure that 
religious interpretations are not used to oppress women.
Main issues



ACADEMIA  AND  RESEARCH  ORGANIZA-
TIONS  should address the chronic lack of statistics on domestic violence 
that acts as
a barrier to policy change on this issue. The lack of adequate data and 
documen- tation about violence against women, and domestic violence in 
particular, reinforces governments’  silence.  In  the  absence  of 
concrete  data,  governments  have  been able to deny the fact of, and 
their respon- sibility to address, such violence.60
In the area of research, there are sever- al priorities. Reliable data on 
the magni- tude,  consequences,  and  the  economic and health costs of 
gender-based violence will help to place the issue on the policy- makers’ 
radar screen. Researchers need to identify best practices in prevention and

Women’s Police Stations

Special women's police stations, staffed with multi-disciplinary female 
teams equipped to respond to the different needs of victim-survivors, have 
been set up in several countries as
an attempt to make police stations more accessible to women. The first such 
station was established in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1985 in response to women's 
complaints that they
could not report violations in regular police stations because they were 
treated with disrespect and disbelief. Brazil's success encouraged 
Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela to set up 
their own specialized units.
Malaysia, Spain, Pakistan, and India, too, have introduced their own 
versions. In India, each station has female civilian workers attached, who 
provide advice and support, referring women to support networks and 
suggesting other options. Because these stations are designed to provide 
comprehensive support to women, including
social, legal, psychological, housing, health, and day-care services, they 
respond to the many levels of support that a victim of domestic violence 
needs.
However, a recent study in India points to several problems with these 
stations, the most notable being that women are discouraged from 
registering complaints at other police stations. As a result, 
victim-survivors have to travel great distances to register their 
complaints at the special women's police stations, and are no longer 
assured of
protection from the regular police stations in their neighbourhood.61
treatment,  and  evaluate  them  for  effec- tiveness and replicability.
Greater   collaboration   is   required between research and academic 
institutes, women’s  organizations,  NGOs,  and  ser- vice providers when 
conducting qualita- tive research to deepen understanding of the causes of 
domestic violence, and its physical  and  psychological  impact  on women.  
Such  research  needs  to  be  fed back to the community so that it can 
lead to awareness and transformation.


The state machinery
Violence  against  women  cuts  across  all government sectors, with 
implications for all programming. It demands new levels of coordination  
and  integration  between  a variety  of  government  sectors  including 
the criminal justice system, health, educa- tion, and employment.
The criminal justice system
LEGAL  REFORM  It is the responsibility of governments  who  have  ratified 
 interna- tional  conventions  and  human  rights instruments  to  
harmonize  their  national laws in line with these instruments. One step  
towards  upholding  the  right  of women to equal protection under the law 
is to enact domestic violence legislation that specifically prohibits 
violence against women. Under this legislation, a woman should have 
protection from threats and acts  of  violence,  safety  and  security  for 
herself, her dependents and property, and assistance in continuing her life 
without further disruption.
In  conformity  with  their  obligation under  the  Convention  on  the  
Rights  of the  Child  (Article  24.3),  governments should also denounce 
and reform all laws, practices and policies that allow harmful cultural  
practices  such  as  female  genital
mutilation, crimes committed in the name of  honour,  and  discrimination  
based  on son preference. Once such legislation is passed, implementation 
and enforcement become a priority. Enforcement requires the cooperation and 
sensitization of the police and the judicial system.
THE  POLICE  are particularly well-posi- tioned to provide assistance to 
victim-sur- vivors, but very often their own prejudices, lack  of  
training,  and  reluctance  to  inter- vene  hinder  them  from  dealing  
with domestic violence. Training and sensitiza- tion of police at all 
levels must be institut- ed, and guidelines must be developed to monitor  
police  response.  Police  must  be held accountable for their own 
behaviour towards victim-survivors in order to pre- vent secondary 
victimization of women at their hands.
THE  JUDICIARY  can strongly reinforce the  message  that  violence  is  a  
serious criminal matter for which the abuser will
Legislation on Domestic Violence

In the 1990s, several factors contributed to significant changes in 
domestic violence legislation in many countries. Women’s successful 
campaigning raised the profile of the issue of violence against women; and 
several United Nations conferences (Vienna, 1993; Cairo, 1994; and Beijing, 
1995) recognized women’s rights as an inalienable part of universal human 
rights. As a result of the new awareness generated, laws on domestic 
violence were adopted in many countries.
To date, around 44 countries have adopted specific legislation on domestic 
violence, of which 13 are in Latin America: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Puerto 
Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. The signing of the Inter-American Convention 
on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence
Against Women in 1994 provided the momentum to enact such legislation.
The South African Domestic Violence Act of 1998 contains a particularly 
innovative feature – granting of a temporary Protection Order in cases 
where the court is satisfied that the actions of the aggressor pose 
'imminent harm' to the complainant. This ruling allows protection of the 
health, safety, and well-being of the applicant, and includes
provision for the aggressor to be evicted from the matrimonial home while 
continuing to provide monetary relief to the applicant.
be held accountable. The judge sets the tone in the courtroom and makes the 
most critical decisions affecting the lives of the victim,  perpetrator,  
and  children,  and must therefore be sensitive to the dynam- ics of 
domestic violence in order to pass equitable  verdicts.  Sensitization  of  
the judiciary  to  gender  issues  is,  therefore, critical  and  law  
schools  should  include relevant courses in their programmes. PROTECTIVE   
MEASURES   The  protec- tion and safety of victim-survivors should be the 
prime focus of legal systems. It is important  that  protective  measures  
are provided so that victim-survivors are not left without adequate 
protection, and are
not re-victimized. In industrialized coun-        17
Main issues




Training the Judiciary to be Gender-Sensitive

Training of the judiciary – from Supreme Court justices to public defenders 
and prosecutors to social workers and support personnel – has been 
successfully carried out
in Costa Rica, India, and the USA. In Costa Rica, the training has been 
part of the action taken by the government to deal with domestic violence, 
while in India and the USA efforts have been led largely by 
non-governmental organizations.
These training workshops have focused on the dynamics of domestic violence 
and specific types of abuse; gender and power relationships; analysis of 
relevant laws; legal procedures and legal services available to victims of 
domestic abuse; and strategies for helping both victims and their abusers. 
In examining these programmes, it is clear that participation at all 
levels, including the highest officials within the judiciary is necessary 
if laws and actions dealing with domestic violence are to be promoted, 
implemented, and monitored.
health care providers is necessary to guide
them on the early screening and identifica- tion of women who are suffering 
domestic violence.  Such  training,  as  far  as  possible, should  be  
integrated  into  existing  training programmes rather than be created as 
sepa- rate programmes. WHO has identified the following issues that need to 
be addressed in sensitizing health care providers:
l  their    possible    negative    feelings, including  inadequacy,  
powerlessness and isolation, particularly in areas with few referral 
services;
tries, women’s shelters have provided sup- port to victims of domestic 
violence since the  1970s,  usually  providing  a  24-hour hotline,  
support  groups  for  the  victims, basic child-care, and social and legal 
ser- vices. Similar centres have been created in many developing countries 
since the early
1980s, mostly run by NGOs. Given that shelters are expensive, NGOs in 
develop- ing countries are hard-pressed to provide shelter for victims, and 
focus instead on providing legal advice and psychological and social 
support.
This  is  an  area  where  support  from municipal and provincial 
governments is needed to provide viable, short-term and long-term  
shelters,  referral  services  to other sectors (health, justice, police) 
and assistance in related needs such as hous- ing,   employment,   and   
child   care. Increasingly,  governments  are  creating such support 
services in partnership with NGOs as part of an integrated response to 
domestic violence.
In  Namibia,  for  example,  women  and child  protection  units  have  
been  estab- lished  in  partnership  with  the  Namibian police, 
ministries of health and social ser- vices, and NGOs. The role of social 
work- ers stationed at the units is to ensure the protection and safety of 
the abused women and children during and after the crisis; and assist  in  
preparation  of  court  reports, appearance in court, and medical examina- 
tions needed for evidentiary purposes. Helping women rebuild their lives 
and
women. It is clear that when victim-sur- vivors  have  the  opportunity  to 
 interact with other women experiencing the same problems,  they  are  able 
 to  escape  their isolation, shame and fear, and are able to rebuild their 
lives at a faster pace. Telephone hotlines, usually set up by NGOs,  have  
also  expanded  in  many countries  of  Latin  America  (Argentina, Chile, 
El Salvador, Uruguay) and in South Asia. However, given the scarcity of 
tele- phones in most rural areas, such hotlines can only reach the urban 
population.
It is critical that every woman who has been abused or who is at risk has 
immedi- ate and ongoing access to support services that  provide  
non-judgemental  and  non- directive service. At all times, the woman must 
be helped to be an active agent in her interaction with the civil and 
criminal justice systems so that she can examine options available to her 
and make choices about her safety.
The health care system
The health care system is well-placed to identify  women  who  have  been  
abused and refer them to other services, as the vast majority of women 
visit a health facil- ity at some point in their lives – during pregnancy, 
for example, or to get treat- ment for themselves or their children. The 
reality, however, is that far from playing a proactive role, the health 
care system has usually been unresponsive to women suf- fering from 
domestic abuse. Training for
l  some cultural beliefs, including the idea that domestic violence is a 
private matter;
l  possible  misconceptions  about  victim- survivors,  including  the  
belief  that women provoke violence.62
Training should be supplemented with protocols to guide health care 
providers to implement standards. Protocols should include procedures for 
documentation for legal,  medical  and  statistical  purposes; legal, 
ethical and privacy issues; and up- to-date information on local referral 
ser- vices. Protocols need to be culture-specif- ic with special attention 
paid to respect- ing the rights of women.63
Education
Curricula that teach non-violence, con- flict resolution, human rights and 
gender issues  should  be  included  in  elementary and secondary schools, 
universities, profes- sional colleges, and other training settings. 
Violence against women can be prevented and eliminated only when the 
underlying causes of violence are addressed and cul- tural norms and 
attitudes are challenged. Curriculum  reform  that  works  towards 
eliminating  the  gender  stereotyping  in schools (teaching about women’s 
contribu- tions  in  history  class,  eliminating  sex- stereotypes in 
textbooks, promoting girls’ participation in sports) are important steps in 
achieving gender equality.
A more fundamental problem – that of girls’  enrolment  in  schools  –  has 
 to  be addressed by governments alongside cur-
self-esteem has been a particular focus of NGO efforts. Many adopt an 
empower- ment approach for women through educa- tion,  legal  literacy,  
and  economic  self- reliance   programmes   within   shelter homes to help 
women take charge of their own lives and personal security. Such pro- 
grammes also provide counselling and a
18       connection   to   existing   networks   of
Women's Access to Health Services

Lack of access to health services is a critical constraint to medical 
examination for women experiencing domestic violence. In Pakistan, for 
example, the two major cities of Karachi and Lahore have only one 
medico-legal centre where examinations for evidence of sexual assault are 
carried out. The complex logistics of city travel, among other constraints, 
make
it hard for women to access these services.  In Moscow, there is only one 
centre that opens from 9 am to 2 pm, limiting women's access. Elsewhere, 
rural victims of violence may have to travel for days to reach a centre. 
Moreover, in many countries abused and violated women are uncomfortable 
with male doctors. These are generally the same countries with extreme 
shortages of female doctors.
Main issues



riculum reform. In South Asia, the Middle
East and Africa, for example, girls’ enrol- ment in primary schools is well 
below that of boys, a phenomenon that perpetuates female subordination.


International organizations
International  organizations  such  as  the United Nations, its bodies and 
specialized agencies, the World Bank, and the Inter- American Development 
Bank have placed the  issue  of  violence  against  women  on their 
agendas. Their programmes articulate the links between human rights, 
health, and

Availability of Guns: a Growing Concern

One of the major risks linked to social and domestic violence is the 
availability of
weapons. With the increase of civil conflicts after the end of the Cold 
War, and the easy availability of drug money in many countries, small arms 
have become more accessible. The role of firearms in domestic violence can 
be illustrated by data from the USA, where
a woman is 2.5 times more likely to be shot by her male intimate partner 
than she is to be killed in any other way by a stranger. 64
Firearms can also be used for other purposes – to coerce a woman into sex, 
for example, and intimidate and control her.
Efforts to market firearms specifically to women have met with little 
success in the
USA 65  and most US residents have favoured stricter controls on guns for 
decades.66
Several recent firearm-related incidents have provided the impetus for 
broad-based social action. An estimated 750,000 protestors, most of them 
women, participated in the Million Mom March in Washington DC on 11 May, 
2000. Simultaneous marches also took place elsewhere in the USA on this 
date, which is traditionally celebrated as Mother’s Day, in a public call 
for greater controls on guns.
women’s participation in political and eco- nomic arenas within the larger 
context of violence against women as a development issue. These 
organizations can play a criti- cal role by using their expertise and 
credi- bility to garner support for eliminating vio- lence against women. 
By advocating with national  governments,  and  by  supporting programmes 
run by both government and non-governmental   organizations,   these 
organizations are already working at many levels to prevent and reduce 
domestic vio- lence in different regions of the world.
The following examples outline some initiatives led by these 
inter-governmental organizations.
l  UNICEF works with different partners to address   domestic   violence   
in   many countries.  Examples  include:  facilitating creation of 
Bolivia’s National Plan for the Prevention   of   and   Eradication   of 
Violence Against Women (1994) and the
adoption of Law 1674 against Family or
Domestic  Violence  (1995);  work  with the  National  Jordanian  
Television  to develop  TV  spots  on  violence  against women; and support 
for the development of  an  active  movement  against  gender- based 
violence in Afghanistan and other countries in South Asia.67
l  The United Nations regional campaigns, coordinated  by  UNIFEM,  to  
eliminate violence  against  women  have  spurred new partnerships between 
a number of UN   agencies   (including   UNICEF), governments,   national   
and   regional NGOs,  and  community-based  groups and media organizations 
since 1998.68
l  UNFPA   supports   research   on   the prevalence of domestic violence 
and has helped to create women’s health centres in areas where such 
violence is common. It   also   works   in   partnership   with 
governments,     NGOs     and     local
communities to support programmes to
eliminate FGM.
l  WHO  is  coordinating  a  multi-country study on women’s health and 
domestic violence,   which   aims   to   develop methodologies   to   
measure   violence against     women     and     its     health 
consequences   cross-culturally   in   six countries.69
l  The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)    and    the    
Inter-American Development      Bank      (IDB)      are collaborating  to  
pilot  a  coordinated, multi-sectoral   response   to   violence against 
women in Latin America.70
l  The Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate   Violence   against   
Women, established at UNIFEM in 1996 by a UN General    Assembly    
resolution,    has supported  innovative  projects  around the  world  that 
 address  all  forms  of gender-based violence.71


























19
Links













































































20




his  section  contains  information about  some  of  the  major  inter- 
governmental organizations, and international   and   regional   NGOs 
working on issues related to domestic violence.   It   is   not   meant   
to   be   a comprehensive   listing,   nor   does   it prioritize  or  rank 
 the  organizations listed. These contacts should serve as links  to  other 
 types  of  organizations, particularly national and local NGOs, 
professional and community organiza- tions,  academic  and  other  
institutes and government bodies, whose work is relevant either to the 
issue of domestic violence  or  to  the  empowerment  of women  and  girls  
through  education, employment    or    training.    Website information is 
listed and is as current as  possible.  Such  information  is,  of
course, subject to change.




UNITED NATIONS AND
ITS SPECIALIZED AGENCIES


United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF)
3 UN Plaza New York NY 10017
USA
Tel: +1 212 326 7000
Fax: +1 212 888 7465

Activities
As part of its mandate, and guided by the CRC and CEDAW, UNICEF promotes 
the equal rights of women and girls and supports their full participation 
in the development of their communities. It works with partners to end 
violence against
women and girls; widen their access to health-care, education, and 
affordable credit; and promote awareness of their rights.
Website: www.unicef.org


United Nations Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
304 East 45th Street, 15th floor
New York
NY 10017
USA
Tel: +1 212 9066400
Fax: +1 212 9066705
E-mail: unifem@undp.org




Activities
UNIFEM has made women’s human rights the centrepiece of its empowerment 
approach to programming. It is coordinating regional campaigns to eliminate 
violence against women, aiming to highlight the problem. Nine UN agencies, 
several national and regional NGOs, and 22 governments in Africa, Asia and 
Latin America
are partners in this effort. Since 1996, UNIFEM has managed the Trust
Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, established 
by the United Nations General Assembly, providing funds for innovative 
projects on this issue. UNIFEM facilitates an internet working group on 
violence against
women (http://www.unifem.undp.org/ campaign/violence). Past discussions are 
available on-line and the site
also contains instructions for joining this virtual working group.
Website: www.unifem.undp.org
Contains information about the
United Nations regional campaigns
to eliminate violence against women;
links to other UN organizations that are part of the campaign; and 
information on applying to the Trust Fund for funding.


United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
1 UN Plaza New York NY 10017
USA
Tel: +1 212 906 5558
Fax: +1 212 906 5001

Activities
As one part of its contribution to the United Nations Inter-Agency Campaign 
on Women’s Human Rights, UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Latin America and the 
Caribbean has developed a website containing
informational materials from partner agencies including UNDP’s own country 
offices. Currently, eight of the
19 reports under preparation by UNDP are posted on the site: Argentina, 
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago and 
Venezuela.
Website: ww.undp.org/rblac/gender





United Nations Division for the
Advancement of Women (DAW)
2 UN Plaza, DC2-12th Floor
New York
NY 10017
USA
Fax: +1 212 963 3463
E-mail: daw@un.org

Activities
DAW conducts research, develops policy options and provides gender policy 
advisory services, including needs assessment, diagnostic studies and 
evaluations and support for capacity-building to enhance the participation 
of women in developing countries. The Division also publishes research and 
data on women and gender issues and works closely with intergovernmental 
and non- governmental organizations. It assists the Commission on the 
Status of Women (CSW) and the Committee on the Elimination of 
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in their mandated tasks.
Website:
www. un.org/womenwatch/daw Contains information on CEDAW and its monitoring 
Committee; the full text of the Convention, ratification information and 
country reports; the work of CSW; the text of the Platform for Action; 
information about the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Beijing +5 
review meeting.


United Nations
High Commissioner
for Human Rights (UNHCHR)
Special Rapporteur
on Violence Against Women Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 917 9150
Fax: +41 22 917 0212
E-mail: srvaw@sltnet.lk
Contact Ms Radhika Coomaraswamy

Activities
The Special Rapporteur seeks and receives information on violence against 
women from a wide variety of sources, including governments, treaty bodies, 
other Special Rapporteurs, specialized agencies and women’s organizations.
Links



The Special Rapporteur recommends
measures at the national, regional and international level to eliminate 
violence against women and its causes, and to remedy its consequences.
Website: www. unhchr.ch/huridocda Contains United Nations ECOSOC 
resolutions on violence against women, and reports of the Special 
Rapporteur to the Commission on Human Rights (in English, French
and Spanish).


United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA)
220 East 42nd Street
1995, focus on the role of the health
sector in preventing violence against women and managing its consequences, 
with increasing attention given to rape and sexual assault. WHO is 
conducting a multi- country study of prevalence, health consequences, and 
risk and
protective factors for domestic violence; has established a database of 
existing research on violence against women; and has initiated reviews of 
interventions to prevent violence, to identify and assist
abused women, and of various training approaches and materials. Website: 
www.who.ch/frh-whd Contains global health facts related
combat domestic violence against
women. It focuses both on prevention of abuse and on treatment for
women who have been abused. Its projects include working with the media for 
public education; training of judges and other judicial personnel; creation 
of national networks to provide support to affected women  and support for 
regional efforts to design projects to reduce domestic violence.
Website: www.iadb.org
Contains information in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish on the 
organization, its programmes, publications, and relevant data.
New York
to issues such as violence against                                          
    
NY 10017
USA
Tel: +1 212 297 5020
Fax: +1 212 557 6416
Email: ryanw@unfpa.org

Activities
UNFPA supports research and surveys to assess the prevalence of domestic 
violence, including the development of methodologies to identify local and 
regional problems linked to violence against women. It assesses the impact 
of violence on women’s ability to exercise their reproductive rights and 
access reproductive health care. It has helped to establish women’s health 
centres providing integrated packages of services and support in areas 
where abuse of women is widespread. In cooperation with governments, NGOs 
and local communities, UNFPA supports programmes to reduce and eventually 
eliminate female genital mutilation.
Website: www.unfpa.org


World Health Organization
(WHO)

Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy (GPE)
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 4353
Fax: +41 22 791 4328
E-mail: garciamorenoc@who.ch

Activities
WHO’s activities in the area of violence against women, initiated in
women, female genital mutilation,
and HIV/AIDS; fact sheets on women; resources including documents, 
publications, databases and press releases; and links to other resources 
and organizations.



OTHER UN AGENCIES

The work of a number of other United Nations agencies is relevant to this 
issue, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Joint 
United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations 
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). For 
information about these organizations, visit their websites as follows:
ILO: www.ilo.org
UNAIDS: www.unaids.org UNESCO: www.unesco.org UNHCR: www.unhcr.ch


OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS


Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB)
1300 New York Avenue, NW Washington DC 20577
USA
Tel: +1 202 6231000

Activities
The IDB has undertaken regional technical cooperation projects to
Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO)
525 23rd Street, NW Washington DC 20037
USA
Tel: +1 202 9743458
Fax: +1 202 9743143
E-mail: publinfo@paho.org

Activities
PAHO, the regional office of WHO in Latin America and the Caribbean, is 
working closely with grassroots and national organizations on the issue of 
violence against women in 10 countries across the region. At the local 
level, it is creating coordinated community networks involving the health 
and legal systems, churches, NGOs, and community-based
groups. At the national level, it is strengthening institutional capacity 
and promoting adoption of legal norms and policies.
Website: www.paho.org
Contains information in English and Spanish about its programmes, services 
and publications, with links to databases on health.


INTERNATIONAL
AND REGIONAL NGOS


Center for Health and Gender
Equity (CHANGE)
6930 Carroll Ave., Suite 910
Takoma Park, MD  20912
USA
Tel: +1 301 2701182
Fax: +1 301 2702052
E-mail: change@genderhealth.org                 21
Links



Activities
The Centre coordinates the Inter- national Research Network on Violence 
Against Women (INRVAW), a group of investigators and advocacy experts 
sharing their experiences on research into physical and sexual abuse. As 
well
as monitoring the implementation of the Programme of Action of the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the Centre 
conducts country case- studies of policy and programmes, initiates research 
and demonstration projects, collaborates with researchers and advocates and 
publishes articles and papers. Website: www.genderhealth.org Contains 
information about the Center’s programmes and publications, with links to 
other relevant sites.


Center for Women’s Global
Leadership
Rutgers,  The  State  University  of  New
Jersey
160 Ryders Lane New Brunswick, NJ 08901
USA
Tel: +1 732 9328782
Fax: +1 732 9321180
E-mail: cwgl@igc.org

Activities
The Center develops and facilitates women’s leadership for women’s human 
rights and social justice worldwide, through women’s global leadership 
institutes, strategic planning activities, international mobilization 
campaigns, UN monitoring, global education endeavours, publications, and 
its resource centre.
Website: www.cwgl.rutgers.edu
Contains information about the Center’s programmes, publications, relevant 
articles and resources, and links to related organizations.


CHANGE: Non-Consensual Sex in Marriage Programme
106 Hatton Square
16 Baldwins Gardens
London EC1N 7RJ
22       UK
Tel: +44 20 7430 0692
Fax: +44 20 7430 0254
E-mail: ncsm.change@sister.com
Activities
CHANGE produces and disseminates information on gender inequalities in law, 
practice and custom, builds international networks and coalitions to 
exchange strategies, and
advocates for the recognition of the human rights of women. The 
organization is currently conducting a worldwide survey of laws and public 
policies relating to non- consensual sex in marriage as well
as specific local customs, campaigns and research.
Website: www.ncsm.net


European Policy Action Centre on Violence Against Women
LEF
18, rue Hydraulique B1210 Brussels Belgium
Tel: +32 2 2179020
Fax: +32 2 2188451
E-mail:
Centre-violence@womenlobby.org

Activities
The Centre provides a forum for women’s NGOs to enable them to persuade  
policy and decision- makers to take responsibility for the issue of 
violence against women. It serves as a central coordinating point for 
information, studies, research and the exchange of good practice among 
European Union member states, as well as lobbying for political action to 
address violence against women in Europe. The Centre has created a database 
of NGOs working on this issue, published as a directory, “Action Against 
Violence Against Women” and has conducted a study, “Unveiling the Hidden 
Data on Domestic Violence,” containing official data on domestic violence 
in the 15 member states of the EU. Website: www.womenlobby. 
org/en/themes/violence/centre.html
Contains position papers, a listing of publications and a news page. In 
French and English.
Human Rights Watch – Women’s Rights Division
1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500
Washington DC 20009
USA
Tel: +1 202 6124321
Fax: +1 202 6124333
E-mail: hrwdc@hrw.org
Activities
The Division addresses human rights abuses directed at, or particularly 
concerning, women. Its recent work
has included combating the trafficking of women and girls into brothels in 
Thailand, sexual abuse of female prisoners in the USA, rape as a war crime 
in Bosnia and Rwanda, control
of women’s virginity in Turkey, violence against women refugees, and sex 
discrimination in Mexican
maquiladoras, in addition to its Global Report on Women’s Human Rights. 
Website: www.hrw.org
Contains information about its publications and press releases on current 
human rights news. Provides in-depth information on issues of concern to 
Human Rights Watch, and includes links to relevant internet resources.


International Center for
Research on Women (ICRW)
1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 302
Washington DC 20036
USA
Tel: +1 202 7970007
Fax: +1 202 7970020
Email: info@icrw.org

Activities
The Center gathers information and provides technical assistance on women’s 
productive and
reproductive roles, their status in the family, their leadership in 
society,
and their management of environmental resources.
It advocates with governments and multilateral agencies, brings experts 
together, and engages in an active publications and information programme 
to advance women’s rights and opportunities, principally in developing and 
transition countries. The Center is currently conducting a three-year 
research programme on domestic violence in
Links



India in partnership with researchers
from Indian organizations, aiming to identify and replicate effective 
responses.
Website: www.icrw.org
Contains information on research, publications and programmes and a 
synthesis of the India study. Also provides links to other organizations 
working on gender issues.

International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP)
2nd Floor, Block F, Anjung Felda, Jalan Maktab
Off Jalan Semarak
54000 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel: +60 3 2913292
Fax: +60 3 2984203
E-mail: iwraw@po.jaring.my

Activities
IWRAW-AP is a collaborative programme to facilitate and monitor the 
implementation of the CEDAW, with projects in 13 Asian countries. Website: 
ww.womenasia.com/iwraw


Isis-Women’s International Cross Culture Exchange (Isis-WICCE)
Plot 32 Bukoto Street
Kamwokya
PO Box 4934
Kampala
Uganda
Tel: +256 41 543953
Fax: +256 41 543954
E-mail: isis@starcom.co.ug
Activities
Isis gathers and disseminates gender- related information on a wide
selection of topics to promote women’s empowerment, gender equality, 
development and peace in Africa. It provides opportunities for African 
women to network on a global basis, sharing their experiences and gaining 
access to information.
Website: www.isis.or.ug
Contains research reports;
magazines that can be downloaded; current news from the region; a section 
on women in armed conflict; and links to other organizations.


Latin American and
Caribbean Women’s Network against Domestic and Sexual Violence (ISIS-Chile)
Casilla 2067
Correo Central
Santiago
Chile
Tel: +562 633 4582
Fax:  +562 638 3142
E-mail: isis@reuna.cl

Activities
ISIS-Chile works in most countries of the Latin American and Caribbean 
region. It has drawn attention to the issue of violence against women by 
organizing seminars, coordinating regional campaigns, and advocating with 
governments and international organizations.
Website: www.isis.cl (Spanish)
Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF)
2nd Floor Zambia House
Box 4622
Harare
Zimbabwe
Tel: +263 4 751189 / 752105
Fax: +263 4 781886
E-mail: wildaf.org.zw

Activities
WILDAF promotes and strengthens strategies which link law and development 
to increased women’s participation and influence at the community, national 
and international levels. It provides opportunities for networking among 
members through workshops and seminars and through collaboration with 
organizations from all parts of the world working in the field of women, 
law and development. WILDAF’s publications include a quarterly newsletter 
and training manuals for legal rights advocacy groups. It conducts  
training and
provides technical assistance to build the capacity of women’s rights
groups. It is engaged in advocacy and lobbying efforts at the regional and 
international levels.
Website: www.wildaf.org.zw
Contains information about membership and focal points, as well as 
publications. Also provides a channel for discussion on the internet on 
women’s human rights.























23
Links



ADDITIONAL WEB RESOURCES


The Global Reproductive
Health Forum South Asia www.hsph.harvard.edu  (English, French and Spanish)

The Global Reproductive Health Forum (GRHF) at Harvard seeks to bring 
together discourses on reproductive health and women’s rights related to 
the  South Asian region. Its site provides access to current research 
originating from South Asian organizations and universities. In partnership 
with the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi and the SNDT 
Women’s University, Mumbai, the site provides in-depth modules on domestic 
violence, dowry, and other forms of violence against women. It includes 
listings of organizations, recommended readings and other resources, as 
well as a discussion site providing a forum for current debate.


Human Rights Web
www.hrweb.org

Human Rights Web contains an overview of human rights, providing a 
definition of the term, outlining the latest issues, full-text 
international human rights documents, and information on how to report on 
human rights emergencies. It also includes resources and information
for those wanting to  contribute to the promotion of human rights.


International Women’s Rights Action Watch www.igc.apc.org/iwraw

International Women’s Rights Action Watch monitors and publicizes the work 
of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. It 
provides technical assistance and research support for women’s human rights 
projects and produces Women’s Watch newsletter,
a quarterly publication that covers law and policy developments affecting 
women worldwide and information resources. The site contains information 
about its
publications, and guides for NGOs, as well as information about CEDAW, the 
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Human Rights
24       Committee sessions.
The University of Minnesota
Human Rights Library –
Women’s Human Rights Site
www.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/auoe
.htm

The site contains full texts of women’s human rights instruments in 
English, French and Spanish, plus ratification information. It also 
includes a reference guide to UN documents, listing the articles relevant 
to
women’s rights.


Women’s Human Rights Resources – DIANA database 
www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/Diana

The website is designed to assist individuals and organizations in using 
international women’s human
rights law to promote women’s rights. It is part of the DIANA international 
human rights database, which contains a comprehensive list of electronic 
materials essential to human rights research.  This site has
a select bibliography of women’s human rights documents with some 
annotations.


Women’s Human Rights Net
(WHRNet)
www.whrnet.org
(English, French and Spanish)

The site provides an overview of human rights issues, information on 
advocacy strategies, news and
events in the area of women’s human rights, and information on capacity 
building resources and training. It
also contains useful links to relevant organizations and human rights 
documents and has an on-line discussion facility.
Women’sNet
www.womensnet.org.za

Women’sNet aims to make information and communication technology accessible 
to women in South Africa, particularly those who have been historically 
disadvantaged, providing training and supporting relevant projects, people, 
tools and resources to create a platform for women’s voices and issues. It 
works to disseminate information in formats accessible to
women who are not directly linked to the internet, as well as providing 
internet training for women and establishing regional technical support 
centres. The site contains resources on the prevention of violence against 
women, including statistical and background information, services and 
resources
for those needing help, listings of organizations working in the field, 
information on relevant laws and policies, and a directory of women’s 
organizations.


WomenWatch
www.un.org/womenwatch

The United Nations electronic gateway for information about women, launched 
in 1997, is managed through a collaborative partnership between UNIFEM, the 
UN Division for the Advancement of
Women (DAW) and the International
Institute for Research and Training for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). 
It provides information on the work of the UN and
intergovernmental agencies dealing with women’s issues; preparations for 
Beijing +5; national action plans prepared by governments as follow- up to 
the Fourth World Conference
on Women; reports prepared for the CEDAW committee; and official 
documentation from the Commission on the Status of Women. It is
currently hosting a series of global electronic discussion forums on issues 
raised in the Beijing Platform for Action (PFA) to share lessons learned 
and effective strategies.
Information sources



References

1. World Health Organization (1996) ‘Violence Against Women’. WHO 
Consultation, Geneva: WHO.
2. Heise  L.L.,  Pitanguy  J.  and  Germaine  A.  (1994)  Violence against  
Women.  The  Hidden  Health  Burden.  Discussion paper No 225, p.46. 
Washington DC: The World Bank.
3. General Assembly Resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993.
4. Hayward, Ruth F. (In Press) Breaking the Earthenware Jar: Lessons  from  
South  Asia  to  End  Violence  against  Women. New York: UNICEF.
5. United Nations ECOSOC, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence 
Against Women, E/CN.4/1996/53.
6. WHO (1999) ‘Putting Women’s Safety First: Ethical and Safety 
Recommendations   for   Research   on   Domestic   Violence against Women’. 
WHO/EIP/GPE/99.2 Geneva: World Health Organization.
7. WHO (1996).
8. Heise (1994).
9. ‘Violence  against  Women  in  the  Family’,  United  Nations
(ST/CSDHA/2). New York, 1989.
10. Back et al. (1982) A Study of Battered Women in a Psychiatric
Setting, in Women and Therapy, 13.
11.  Hayward (1999).
12. United Nations ECOSOC, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence 
Against Women, E/CN.4/1996/53.
13. Watts C., Oslam S., and Win E. (1995), The Private is Public:
A Study of Violence in Southern Africa, Harare: Women in
Law and Development in Africa.
14. UNICEF  (1999)  Women  in  Transition,  Regional  Monitoring Report,   
No.   6.   Florence:   UNICEF   International   Child Development Centre.
15. The  World’s  Women  1995:  Trends  and  Statistics.  United
Nations, 1995.
16. The Netherlands Department of Justice, 1997.
17. ‘La  Situation  de  la  Femme  Malienne:  Cadre  de  Vie, Problèmes, 
Promotion, Organisations’,  Association pour le Progrès  et  la  Défense  
des  Droit  des  Femmes  Malienne (APDS) et Fondation Friedrich Ebert - 
Bureau Mali, 2000.
18. Benninger-Budel C. and Lacroix A. (1999), Violence against Women:  A  
Report.  Geneva:  World  Organisation  Against Torture.
19. The U.S. State Department’s annual survey of human rights, published 25 
February, 2000.
20. United Nations ECOSOC, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence 
Against Women, E/CN.4/1995/42.
21. State of the World’s Children 2000, New York: UNICEF, 2000.
22. UNICEF (1997), Progress of Nations.
23. Benninger-Budel C., et al. op. cit. (1999).
24. Schuler S.R., Hashemi S.M., Riley A.P., and Akhter S., Credit Programs, 
Patriarchy and Men’s Violence against Women in Rural Bangladesh, Soc. Sci. 
Medicine Vol 43, No 12, pp 1729-
1742, 1996.
25. ECLAC  (Economic  Commission  for  Latin  America  and  the Caribbean) 
(1992), ‘Domestic Violence against Women in Latin America and the 
Caribbean: Proposals for Discussion’, Social Development Division, 
Santiago, Chile.
26. UNICEF (1989), ‘The invisible adjustment: Poor women and economic  
crisis’,  UNICEF,  The  Americas  and  Caribbean Regional Office, Santiago. 
‘La situation de la femme mali- enne:   cadre   de   vie,   problèmes,   
promotion’   op.   cit. Mazumdar,  V.  et  al.  (1995)  Changing  Terms  of 
 Political Discourse:  The  Women’s  Movement  in  India,  1970s-1990s, 
Economic and Political Weekly, vol. XXX: 29, pp 1866-1878.
27. UNICEF (1999).
28. Ibid.
29. Sen  P.,  Enhancing  Women’s  Choices  in  Responding  to Domestic    
Violence    in    Calcutta:    A    Comparison    of Employment  and  
Education.  The  European  Journal  of Development Research, Vol 11, No 2, 
December 1999, pp. 65-
86.
30. The  Human  Rights  Watch  Global  Report  on  Women’s
Human Rights, New York,1995.
31. United Nations ECOSOC, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence 
Against Women, E/CN.4/1996/53 para 33.
32. US Department of Justice, ‘Violence by Intimates: Analysis of Data on 
Crimes by Current or Former Spouses, Boyfriends, and Girlfriends’, March 
1998.
33. Heise (1994).
34. Ibid.
35. García-Moreno C., and Watts C., Violence against Women:
its importance for HIV/AIDS prevention. WHO, March 2000
36. Ibid.
37. Macharia J. K., Women, Law, Customs and Practices in East
Africa: Laying the Foundation.
38. From  research  carried  out  by  Henry  Maina  for  the  Daily
Nation, Kenya, February 2000
39. Jaffe  P.G.,  Wolfe  D.A.  and  Wilson  S.K.  (1990)  Children  of 
Battered Women. Developmental Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, Volume 
21, Sage Publications, California.
40. Asling-Monemi,  et  al.  (1999)  ‘Violence  against  women increases 
the risk of infant and child mortality. A case refer- ence study in 
Nicaragua, 1999’. Cited in Population Reports, Series L, No 11. Baltimore: 
Johns Hopkins University.
41. Jeejeebhoy S. J. (1998) Associations Between Wife-beating, and Foetal 
and Infant Death. Impressions from a survey in rural India, Studies in 
Family Planning 29 (3), pp 300-308. Cited in Population Reports, 1999.
42. Ganatra B. R. et al. (1998) Too Far, Too Little, Too Late. A com- 
munity-based case-controlled study of maternal mortality in rural-west 
Maharastra, India, Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 76 (6), pp 
591-598. Cited in Population Reports,
1999.
43. Heise  L.,  Ellsberg  M.  and  Gottemoeller  M.  (1999)  Ending
Violence against Women. Population Reports, Series L, No
11.  Baltimore:  Johns  Hopkins  University  School  of  Public
Health.
44. Ortiz R. et al. (1999), ‘Encuesta Nicaraguense de demografia
y salud’, 1998 (SPA) p. 319 (1998 Nicaraguan demographic and health 
survey). Managua, Nicaragua: Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Cebsos.
45. For studies on costs see:
Blumel D.K. et al. (1993). Who Pays? The Economic Costs of Violence Against 
Women. Queensland, Australia: Women’s Policy Unit, Office of the Cabinet.
Day T. (1995) The Health-related Costs of Violence Against Women in Canada: 
The Tip of the Iceberg. London, Ontario: Centre  for  Research  on  
Violence  Against  Women  and Children.
Kerr R. et al. (1996) Paying for Violence: Some of the Costs of Violence  
Against  Women  in  B.C.  Ministry  of  Women’s Equality, British Colombia, 
Canada.
Stanko  A.  et  al.  (1998)  Counting  the  Costs:  Estimating  the Impact  
of  Domestic  Violence  in  the  London  Borough  of Hackney. Crime 
Concern, London.
Yodanis C.L. and Godenzi A. (1999) Report on the economic costs  of  
violence  against  women.  Fribourg  Switzerland: University of Fribourg.
46. Greaves, Lorraine (1995) ‘Selected Estimates of the Costs of
Violence  against  Women’.  London,  Ontario:  Centre  for
25
Information sources



Research on Violence aginst Women and Children
47. Laurence L. and Spalter-Roth R. (1996) ‘Measuring the costs of domestic 
violence against women and the cost-effective- ness of interventions: an 
initial assessment and proposals for further  research’.  Washington  DC:  
Institute  for  Women’s Policy Research.
48. World Bank (1993) World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health. 
New York: Oxford University Press.
49. Ibid.
50. Buvinic M., Morrison A.R. and Shifter M. (1999) Violence in the 
Americas: A Framework for Action in ‘Too Close to Home: Domestic Violence 
in the Americas’, Morrison A.R. Biehl M. L.  (eds.).  Washington  DC:  
Inter-American  Development Bank.
51. Buvinic M., Morrison, A.R., Shifter M. (1999) op. cit.
52. Morrison A.R. and Orlando M.B. (1999) Social and Economic Costs  of  
Domestic  Violence:  Chile  and  Nicaragua  in  ‘Too Close  to  Home:  
Domestic  Violence  in  the  Americas’. Washington DC: Inter-American 
Development Bank.
53. Ibid.
54. Hayward (1999).
55. Garcia-Moreno C. (1999) Violence Against Women, Gender and  Health  
Equity.  Harvard  Center  for  Population  and Development   Studies,   
Working   Paper   Series   99.15. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
56. Economic  and  Social  Research  Council,  Children  5-16
Research  Programme,  conducted  by  the  Universities  of Warwick, 
Bristol, North London and Durham. Number 12. For further information 
contact Audrey Mullender, University of Warwick, 
Audrey.Mullender@warwick.ac.uk
57. Tortured Tradition, by Lauren Goldsmith, The Baltimore Sun, March 26, 
2000;  The Niodior Declaration to abandon female genital cutting, Molly 
Melching, Director of Tostan, Senegal, April 7, 2000.
58. Hayward Ruth F. (1997) ‘Needed: A new model of masculini- ty  to  stop  
violence  against  girls  and  women’,  UNICEF Regional Office for South 
Asia, Kathmandu, Report no. 17; UNICEF (1997) ‘The Role of Men in the Lives 
of Children. A Study of How Improving Knowledge about Men in Families Helps 
Strengthen Programming for Children and Women’, UNICEF, New York.
59. Poppe  P.  (1999)  Partnerships  with  the  Media  to  Prevent Domestic 
Violence, in ‘Too Close to Home: Domestic Violence in the Americas’ op. 
cit.
60. Human Rights Watch (1995).
61. Mitra  Nishi  (1999)  Best  Practices  among  Responses  to Domestic  
Violence  in  Maharashtra  and  Madhya  Pradesh. Washington,  DC:  
International  Center  for  Research  on Women (ICRW).
62. WHO (1996).
63. Ibid.
64. Kellermann A.L., Mercy J. A. (1992) Men, women, and mur- der:  
gender-specific  differences  in  rates  of  fatal  violence and 
victimization. Journal of Trauma, 33 (1), pp 1-5.
65. Smith T. W., (1995) Changes in Firearm Ownership among Women,    
1980-1994.    Journal    of    Criminal    Law    and Criminology, 86, pp 
133-149.
66. Smith  T.  W.,  (1980)  The  75%  Solution:  an  Analysis  of  the 
Structure of Attitudes on Gun Control, 1959-1977. Journal of Criminal Law 
and Criminology, 71, pp 300-316. Also Smith, T. W., (2000)1999 Gun Policy 
Survey of the National Opinion Research Center: Research Findings. Chicago: 
University of Chicago.
67. For information, see www.unicef.org
68. For information, see www.unifem.undp.org.
26
69. WHO (1999) ‘WHO Multi-country study of women’s health and
domestic   violence.   Core   protocol’.   WHO/EIP/GPE/99.3
Geneva: WHO.
70. WHO (1996) ‘Violence against Women: WHO Consultation’, p
26- 27. Geneva: WHO.
71. For  information,  contact  The  United  Nations  Development Fund  for 
 Women  (UNIFEM)  at  tfvaw.unifem@undp.org,  or visit web site at 
www.unifem.undp.org.
Information sources



Selected key readings

While  not  included  in  the  list  of  references,  the  following 
materials are invaluable resources on gender issues and/or domestic 
violence

Bauer H., and Rodriguez M.A. (1995), Letting Compassion Open the  Door:  
Battered  Women’s  Disclosure  to  Medical  Providers. Cambridge Quarterly 
of Healthcare Ethics, Vol 4, pp 459-465.

Brasileiro A. M. (1997), Women Against Violence: Breaking the
Silence. New York: UNIFEM.

Bunch C.   (1997) The Intolerable Status Quo: Violence against Women  and  
Girls,  in  The  Progress  of  Nations.  New  York: UNICEF.

Carillo R. (1992) Battered Dreams: Violence against Women as an Obstacle to 
Development.  New York: UNIFEM.

Clarke  R.  (1998)  Violence  Against  Women  in  the  Caribbean: State and 
Non-State Responses. Barbados: UNIFEM.

Cook  R.  (ed.)  (1994)  Human  Rights  of  Women:  National  and 
International    Perspectives.    Philadelphia:    University    of 
Pennsylvania Press.

Corrin C. (1996) Women in a Violent World: Feminist Analyses and   
Resistance   Across   Europe.   Edinburgh:   Edinburgh University Press.

Davies  M.  (ed.)  (1994)  Women  and  Violence:  Realities  and
Responses Worldwide. London: Zed Books.

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27
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THE INNOCENTI DIGESTS

The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, in Florence, Italy, was established 
in 1988 to strengthen the research capability of the United Nations 
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and
to  support  its  advocacy  for  children  worldwide.  The  Centre  
(formally  known  as  the International Child Development Centre) helps to 
identify and research current and future areas of UNICEF’s work. Its prime 
objectives are to improve international understanding of issues relating to 
children’s rights and to help facilitate the full implementation of the 
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in both industrialized 
and devel- oping countries.
The Innocenti Digests are produced by the Centre to provide reliable and 
accessible information on specific child rights issues.
This issue of the Innocenti Digest has been researched and written by 
Sushma Kapoor, Consultant to the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. It has 
benefited from the input of more than 20 international experts who attended 
the Consultation on Domestic Violence, held at the UNICEF Innocenti 
Research Centre in April 2000.
With special thanks to:
Radhika  Coomaraswamy,  United  Nations  Special  Rapporteur  on  Violence  
Against
Women.
The Centre is grateful for input from:
Shahida Azfar, Rosa Bernal, Kiran Bhatia, Misrak Elias, Ruth Finney 
Hayward, Nigel Fisher, Claudia Garcia Moreno, Srilakshmi Gururaja, Dale 
Hurst, Tomoko Ishii, Takako Konishi,  Soledad  Larrain,  Nicoletta  
Livi-Bacci,  Neill  McKee,  Zaynab  Nawaz,  Njoki Ndung’u, Monica O’Connor, 
Michael Rodriguez, Rima Salah, Lavinia Shikongo, Fatoumata Siré Diakité, 
Susan B. Sorenson, Stephen H. Umemoto, Rukhsana Zia.
The  Digest  was  prepared  under  the  overall  guidance  of  Nigel  
Cantwell,  Maryam
Farzanegan and Mehr Khan.

Previous Digests have addressed:
n Ombudswork for Children
n Children and Violence
n Juvenile Justice
n Intercountry Adoption
n Child Domestic Work
For further information and to download these and other publications, visit 
the website at: www.unicef-icdc.org
To order publications contact orders@unicef-icdc.it

UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
Piazza SS. Annunziata, 12
50122 Florence, Italy
Tel.: (+39) 055 203 30
Fax: (+39) 055 244 817
E-mail (general information): florence@unicef-icdc.it
E-mail (publication orders):   orders@unicef-icdc.it
Website:  www.unicef-icdc.org


The opinions expressed are those of the authors and editors and do not 
necessarily reflect the policies or views
of UNICEF.
Extracts for this publication may be freely reproduced provided that due 
acknowledgment is given to the source and to UNICEF:
We invite comments on the content and layout of the Digest and suggestions 
on how it could be improved as
an information tool.

Editor: Angela Hawke
Cover design: Miller, Craig & Cocking, Oxfordshire - UK Layout and 
phototypesetting: Bernard & Co, Siena - Italy Front cover picture: © 
Bernard Chazine, 2000
Printed by Arti Grafiche Ticci, Siena - Italy
28      June 2000









DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS


This Digest focuses on domestic violence as one of the most preva- lent  
yet  relatively  hidden  and  ignored  forms  of  violence  against women 
and girls globally. Domestic violence is a health, legal, eco- nomic, 
educational, developmental and, above all, a human rights issue. The Digest 
looks at the magnitude and universality of domes- tic violence, and its 
impact on the rights of women and children. It emphasizes the need for 
coordinated and integrated policy respons- es; implementation of existing 
leglisation; and greater accountabili-
ty from governments in order to eliminate this violence. Information on 
regional and international NGOs working in this area, and sug- gestions for 
further reading are also provided.



























UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
Piazza SS. Annunziata, 12
50122 Florence, Italy

Tel.: (+39) 055 203 30
Fax: (+39) 055 244 817
E-mail (general information):  florence@unicef-icdc.it
E-mail (publication orders):     orders@unicef-icdc.it

Website:  www.unicef-icdc.org

ISSN: 102-3528
